The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind
by Sauru Tsukiyumi Sanbi's Faeble
Summary: It was an old, decrepit town, ruled by a corrupt government. And the rebels fought each other, blind and unhappy with their salvation. In the shadow of bioengineering and pain, can they rise above their vices and live? AU. SakuxOC, OCxOC, ItaxOC etc.
1. Human Stupidity and The Disease

**Okay, so finally I live. Listen guys, this is my best work in my opinion. It's just awesomeness. I know, it's based around some of my OCs but it's got Naruto characters mostly. It's for me and my friends. But I hope you like it.**

**

* * *

  
**

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-1-

-

-

-

_Kikyo Ot… suki._

_Sa… kura Haruno._

_Shiro Shini… gami._

_Hid…eo Shinigami._

_Itachi U… chiha._

_Kazu… ki Inahara._

_Only… six. Six… of them. In a dusty… old town. In a… dusty old country. With a… dusty government (that is really none at all). _

_The land… breathes… And only a few can hear it… anymore. Love… is like… a dying firefly… a flickering flame… and a lovely, yet frozen, flower, soon to wither as time puts its iron fist down._

_Unlikely people. Children, big kids, young adults, students, and kids. All titles that they can claim. _

_A few they'd rather not have, too._

_Monster._

_Schizophrenic. _

_Unloved._

_Orphan._

_Blamed. _

_Abused._

_But they all can find one question that they need, want to be answered:_

_Why? _

_

* * *

  
_

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

I hate the stars. They wink at me, teasing me.

_We are free. You are not. We are free. You- are- not!_

'Shut _up_!' I slammed my fist into the wall. Thinking about stars made me angry. Gritting my teeth, I pulled my sky blue hair into a messy ponytail. I stuffed my books into my tattered old messenger bag. I hurried out of the crappy old apartment with its leaking ceiling and cracked paint and out into the cobblestone street. I rubbed my face with my sleeve as I stalked down the road.

People stared at me. I glared back. What's so weird about a teenage girl storming out of her ugly apartment at six thirty in the morning? Nothing. Nothing at all. Happens all the freaking time.

I'm rude. I did not introduce myself to you. I am Kikyo Otsuki.

I have triangular clan markings on my face. They are dark blue. I don't like them because I didn't put them there and I have no need for clan tattoos because nobody else is left.

I'm a orphan, I live alone, whoop- dee- doo.

I like to read a little bit, but I'm not a complete bookworm.

I keep to myself. I don't care about fashion.

I like wearing clean things- which I sometimes can't do.

I don't like meeting new people.

I also don't like boys, but I'll tell you why in a second. Just wait.

I am wearing a battered old tan jacket with big brown buttons. I have black boots that go up to my knees and some dark brown pants that I stuffed into the boots. They look like slops now. My shirt has, mercifully, no holes, and is a plain white tee.

I generally don't like to sound self- centered, but I end up doing so because my sentences start with 'I' most of the time. Someone told me that once, and I felt annoyed and scared so I told them I didn't care. I started my sentence with 'I', too. Just for the satisfaction.

I've done that ever since.

I have pretty eyes, at least. They are a sea of light violet, and I don't wear makeup because my eyes are for me. I don't like people looking at me.

I think boys are stupid. I mean, I'm currently passing the empty lot next to the school. There are a bunch of boys there. Tall, short, jocks, nerds. All of them. Some even have the emblem choker that makes them bad. I never did like boys, and my dislike has grown to hatred after many years of hair-pulling and name-calling.

By the way, I don't know why the emblem choker is bad. The officers tell me so. 'Someday,' they told me, 'all the bad will be gone. You'll be safe then, Kikyo.'

I hate how they make me feel like a child. I'm fifteen, not four.

Girls wear it too. It's like a symbol for something. They always pull on it like it's strangling them. A collar. Just a black leather collar with a design on it in shiny silver metal.

Looks itchy to me.

Passing a particularly nasty interaction between a girl and a boy, I inwardly gagged and made sure not to look. I'd never let a boy touch me like that. It's violating, dirty, and I'd end up washing myself until my skin was red.

I guess I'm weird, because there were couples making out everywhere.

I just can't escape the stupid. People are just Stupid with a capital 'S'.

I strode up to the grimy double doors that led into the school. Slipping my hand in the handle, I slipped in the right door quietly.

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

'Look, loser one and loser two.'

'Well, if it isn't emo and invisible. Oh, wait, I can't see invisible. He's not there.'

I ignored the ignorant comments. Or, I should have. Instead, I stuck out my tongue at their backs childishly. Jocks were stupid. They may be six foot one, but they only had about 200 brain cells.

Kazuki walked silently next to me as we made our way to the more quiet part of the lot. He kept his eyes glued to the ground.

I don't think that the mere 200 brain cells could ever comprehend what that kid was thinking. In fact, I'm not sure my _IQ_ of 200 could fully grasp it. That's why he keeps his composition notebook with him.

Paper doesn't need brain cells to have his thoughts on it. Thank god.

I hopped up on the ledge of the old cement stairs. The tan structure had parts crumbling off, and one day it was definitely going to collapse when I sat there.

It'd kill me, I'm sure. Kazuki told me that there was a big boulder approximately 5.7859 meters above my head that would have enough sufficient gravitational potential energy to crack my skull like an eggshell. And when the stairs broke, the chain reaction would dislodge the rock so that it could fulfill my death wish.

Yeah. I like the metaphorical "edge". It makes me happy.

My sister worries about me, but I told her that she should just stop because it wasn't worth wasting thought on how I could die; if I don't, I don't- if I do, it's probably my fault. Or human stupidity.

I just can't escape from the stupid. It's _everywhere_.

By the way, you're wondering. You are wondering with all your brain cells (which, I hope, is more than that jock's) who the heck I am.

Name is Hideo Shinigami.

I have black hair that 'hates the world' as my sister puts it. It is impossibly spiky, and covers the left side of my face. I find it amusing when people try to figure out what that side of my face looks like. In reality, it's exactly the same as the right side.

My eyes are crimson red. They tend to dilate quickly at random times and freak out people. My sister thinks they're pretty, but that's just because her boyfriend has the same coloration.

I always wear a black trench coat. Little kids are afraid of me because I wear black every day. And combat boots. I like to snicker as they run to their mommies. Kazuki always shakes his head at me, and usually we burst out laughing later.

I don't like my sister's boyfriend, artichokes, losing, and stupid people. I don't like Dragga either; I just put up with him. But he's _so gay_, it scares me. Probably because I'm heterosexual.

I do like my sister, hard math problems I can do and laugh at idiots when they can't, the dark, technology, and people I consider 'friends.'

I also like to torment Dragga, but that's a two-way street so I get retaliation. That part sucks. He's a creep.

By the way, I am definitely _not_ gay. Just to clear that up. Now. So that I don't hurt someone later.

Kazuki's head snapped up from his writing. The bell rang- time to run.

We raced to the side door and snuck through the janitorial entrance.

Ah, screw it.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

Being nice is tiring. Smiling hurts my face.

I'm sure that a thousand fake smiles like this one have found their way to my face. I glared at the boy through my pained smile. He was looking at me funny, and it made me angry.

In fact, when I realized that he wasn't looking at my face, I punched him and left.

I honestly think that most boys are idiots. At least at this age. And they were getting taller, too. I loved the days in elementary school when the girls towered over the puny boys.

Haha, puny boys. I can beat all of them in arm wrestling. I could beat them up.

I don't because Aunt Tsunade told me not to.

Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sakura Haruno. Nice to meet you, unless you are a perverted boy. In that case, I'll warn you once: Run.

I have pastel pink hair and green eyes. I like to be respectable, as in getting good grades and looking professional.

I'm currently wearing a white blouse and a pair of black pants. Oh, and my beloved shoes, which happen to be a pair of short heels that have a rounded toe.

Patent leather, mmm.

I keep my opinions to myself. Except when I tell you that I think people are stupid, petty creatures. There seems no end to the stupidness.

Walking past the accursed boys who insist on staring at me, I half- ran over to the far corner of the lot, stepping over the overgrown grass that grew in clumps in the cracks of the concrete. Watch the shoes, foliage. Patent Leather doesn't like you.

Pulling out my book, which happened to be a collection of Shakespeare (horrible to carry around, but worth it), I settled myself on the old bench.

I liked to read here while watching the others. Now, on the first day of school, the new kids (which weren't many of) stood apart from the loudly socializing residents of this town.

I noticed the regulars out in the big blacktop. The chemistry nerds who hung out near the bike rack; the dumb jocks and their cheerleader girlfriends that they'd dump in a week in the middle of the lot; and lastly the two boys not very far from me. They sat near the collapsing building. The one must be really stupid, seeing as he was always sitting underneath that boulder. The other sat in the grass.

Not really feeling like reading, I shut my book and studied them for the first time.

Neither seemed to talk much. The difference was that the one with the notebook was fixated on what he was writing and the other was just sitting back and flicking his eyes around the grounds. He looked like he was thinking.

Since they were so close, I noticed that his eyes were dilating constantly, and fast. According to my medical textbook (which I adored), this could be harmful if he was in harsh sunlight. According to my mind, it was registered as creepy.

Feeling weird for looking at the same person for so long (especially a guy), I shifted my gaze to the other. His eyes were focused, but when he blinked, it became big again but shrunk when he opened his eye.

It was weird. I like that word. Weird.

And- I saw the collar and averted my gaze.

'_Don't look at them, Sakura.'_

Why?

'_Don't talk to them, Sakura.'_

Why?

'_Someday, they'll be gone, Sakura.'_

…

'_We'll all be happy when they are gone, Sakura.' _

The collar was bad. That's all they ever told me. Certain people around town have it on- it has a metal symbol on it. Those people tend to be quiet, but the adults look down on them. I frankly don't think it's right, for people to be segregated like that. So I'm always careful to be nice to the people with collars, even when other people tell me that they're bad people. Argh, it's so confusing.

The bell saved me from my thoughts. I snatched my book from the bench beside me and hurried to the doors.

Jostled by the crowd, I never noticed that the kid with the notebook had noticed my scrutiny.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

You're new. I'm glad I could get a new book. My old one was dead. It was falling apart last week and a day or so ago its remaining cover fell off.

I was worried I wouldn't have enough money to buy a new composition book… but I did.

I'm going to decide what to call you later, journal. But I can tell you what they call me.

I'm Kazuki Inahara. Father says that Inahara shouldn't be my surname, but that's my name. I guess I'll change it later.

I have black hair, and one streak in my bangs is white. I'm fifteen. I have green eyes.

The collar hurts me, Nameless. It burns. So do the looks I get.

The metal emblem flashes in the sun, and it hurts my eyes. So I like the dark better.

Right about now, I'm looking out over the school lot. I notice everything.

The group that I _should_ be in over there- the rest of the collar wearers. The people who push me and Hideo around over there, the normal kids.

The pink- haired girl on the bench reading Shakespeare. I think she's curious about us. No wonder. She looks smart enough to keep up with Hideo, even. Maybe. Smart people tend to be pretty intelligent.

The dawn is pretty. It would warm me, but it chooses not to. My kind- the collars- don't get the embrace of the sun. At least, the government says so. And the police officers.

Principal Tsunade called me last night, while Father was out. She told me that that Girl was coming to our school. I am scared; She knows me; the old me. But She won't remember.

But I don't want to tell Her. She'd run away, and I'd be sad again. Best to just never be near Her.

It was considerate of Tsunade to tell me. I like Principal Tsunade. She's different from the other adults. She treats me like… like a human being.

I strain my eyes to look at the figure moving on the other side of the fence. It is a girl. She is walking fast.

I know it's Her. I can tell.

But She's different. I don't know Her now. It's my fault. She won't even recognize me now. She'll look through me, like most people do.

Father tells me that everything bad is my fault.

It makes me afraid when I find myself agreeing.

Just maybe, someday he'll realize that Yukio isn't much better. I hope. But human stupidity exceeds the universe in both size and matter. Or lack thereof.

Hope never got me anywhere, I am thinking, as I watch Her yank open the door to the School.

She's like a broken promise. An old childhood memory of two little kids on a cliff. I'll know Her name, but She'll have forgotten me.

Kikyo. I'll never forget that name.

The bell just rung. I know we'll run through the janitorial entrance again, like always.

It smells like mops in there.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

Love.

I used to wonder what it was like

I know, now

and I'm glad

because Itachi is next to me

and I can't wipe the smile off my face

I look like a silly child with a Twix bar

my name

is Shiro Shinigami

I am

beautiful

because

he

is next to me

but I have pastel blue

hair and aqua

eyes

I like to walk

to the campus

and imagine

all sorts of

trivial things

like

what the clouds think and

where their parents

are

I can

hear

music when

I

walk

and we are

passing the old high school

where we first met and he asked me for a pencil

I suppose

my little brother is somewhere over

in the shady overgrown

corner of

the old lot,

away from

'the stupid'

of the others

"_Remember, Itachi?"_

"_Yes."_

I hear the bell ring

and I hope

to all the clouds and their parents

that he and Kazuki will

be alright

I worry because

the collar will drag dear Kazuki down someday

when they

say,

'It was for the best, Ms. Shinigami.'

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

I suppose I lied. When she asked me, all those years ago, if I'd ever fall in love, I said no.

I was wrong. I always seem to be incorrect when I am around her. That time in the spelling bee, and in class that whole marking period when she sat next to me.

Even though I despise being wrong, I will always make an exception with her.

My name is Itachi Uchiha. I have black hair pulled into a ponytail and dark red eyes. I like to wear dark colors. So right now I am wearing a black tee and dark wash jeans.

Shiro, the girl I am foolishly in love with, walks next to me.

She likes the color white. She is wearing a white sundress and her straw hat with the pink ribbon. Radiating happiness, she is smiling.

Her bright smile can make even my own emotionless face light up with her infectious happiness.

Love is a disease. I believe it is slowly killing me.

Shiro is kind. She is like a white lotus blooming among the dirty waters of this town.

I will leave this place someday, with her. But for now she wants to stay, stay and help this ailing country. Spread her white happiness to the black collars that riddle our town with hatred and sadness.

We are walking down the street. Her white rain boots disrupt the scraggly weeds that have invaded the sidewalk.

A girl with sky blue hair rushes past us. Her hair color is eerily similar to Shiro's, but none will ever be the same. The girl is angry.

I see that look on my brother's face, especially since the incident. Shiro frowned at the girl's back, noticing the stormy look as well.

My brother is named Sasuke. He is full of rage. Righteous fury at the world. Despite this, and his dislike of me, I still care for him deeply. He is all that is left besides Shiro.

I notice that we are passing the school.

She speaks in her bell-voice, "Remember, Itachi?"

I reflect upon the days when we were even younger and even more foolish than we are now and inwardly laughed.

"Yes."

There is no need for more conversation. I know that she is pondering her questions. Special questions, like her. She's one big question mark herself.

What do the stars think of?

Where is the sea's memories?

Why do the clouds frown?

When did the snow change its face?

Who loves the desert's soul?

She has told me her answers for only two so far.

Clouds frown because we pollute them with so much thought, color, and blood. They smile because we show them our love, tears, and happiness. Human stupidity- we cannot escape it. The clouds know.

Snow changed its face when we stained and stepped on it. It will change again when we apologize.

As we pass, my keen ears pick up the school bell's raucous buzzing. Shiro's head jerked up.

The high school students flooded into the school's dirty doors, pushing and shoving each other.

I didn't see Hideo, who has decided to hate me.

Foolish little almost- brother. Shiro read my thoughts and smiled at me.

I am blessed.

* * *

_A black collar lands upside- down in the dirt. The insignia is not visible. Blood splashes over it as its owner lands next to her shackles. _

_Serves you right!_

_A boy cowers in the corner. His brother is not home. Wide eyes scream._

_Why? Why, when she only ever helped you?_

_Shut it, freak._

'_Don't be afraid, sweetie. Run. Run away and embrace the light the gods gave you.'_

_Mother!_

_She's dead, brat. And now it's your turn… and whoever is on that damn cliff._

_But-_

_I don't care. Stay away from normal people, you'll contaminate them with… with your _disease_. And then I'll kill you. _

…_I…_

_You and all your kind will be dead someday with a bullet in your brain. Where it belongs! _

… _when you can only whimper and cry, is when you take the name of a collar._

_That is when you will know true terror._

_A child's blood stains the snow. And the snow will cry tears of pink and chew the red away. _

_The rain will pour. _

_The sea will scream as it hits the tall cliffs. _

_The clouds will turn black with the sooty remains of pain and anger and fear and the smoke left from hope that has been snuffed out. _

_The desert will whisper to its victims, words of pain. _

_Souls will howl with their consent to the will of nature._

_And the stars will twinkle. Twinkle, twinkle. I want to be loved. _

_OUT64._


	2. Pain, Fear, and the Soul

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-2-

-

-

-

_Anko is a woman of many secrets. Science._

_Kakashi is a man of many memories. Social Studies._

_Kurenai is a woman of many dreams. English._

_Asuma is a man of much hope. Gym._

_Hana is a woman of emotions. Math._

_Lastly, Tsunade is a old woman who just wants to hear the answer and be at peace._

_She is a leader._

_She is a follower._

_She is angry._

_She is sad._

_She is disappointed._

_She is content._

_Most of all, she is drunk. Because she hasn't found the answer and wants to know._

_

* * *

  
_

-{=( Shiro )=}-

I am sitting

in a room

with people

who know much more than me

I feel a

little

insecure

so I

am doodling

in my notebook

the professor

calls my name

I raise my hand and

smile

so that he knows

that I am here

I wish Hana

or Itachi

or Deidara

were in my class

I wouldn't be

chewing on my

nails then

but I am

so I guess

I'll have to deal with it for now

I pull at my neck, and my hand feels the

horrible collar for one

moment

and then it's

gone

just like the woman

with mismatched eyes

and the man with

his one- word questions

and the boy with

sandy blonde hair

and the girl with

her evil smile

not to mention the

smiling man

with smiling eyes and smiling hair and smiling face

he catches my eye today

I smile

he smiles back

I blink again and he's gone

back to Atlantis-

I'm sure he lives there

I visited it once,

under my bed when I was little

where Sasuke used to think monsters were and I climbed under to show him they weren't

I told him about it yesterday and he just

turned away,

leaving an angry silence

that was purple and red at the same

time

yes I am listening

and my day flies by

I learn so much here

but I like it when

I go to my art class

because we get to work with

watercolors

and Deidara is there too

well, I must go

because the college day is over

and the painful looks I got are gone too

they know

but they don't

and it scares me

because they think they know but they don't don't don't

but then I'll feel alright again when Itachi walks up and we walk home again

past the old high school

and the angry girl will probably pass us again

in such a hurry to get where she must go back to

she doesn't know but

I saw a little boy next to her with sad sad sad eyes

that were like emeralds

and raven down for hair

he kept trying to talk to her,

I heard but she didn't and now I was sad sad sad thinking about it-

and then I blinked again and he was gone

but I want him back

I think she wants him back too

even if she acts so red red red- angry

well Itachi has come for me so

I will say

goodbye

for

now

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

Good day. I was writing just a few minutes earlier, outside. I still haven't came up with a name for you. I'm sorry.

It is bad today because She's in my class. Our school has a policy that classes switch but have the same people in them. I don't like it. Hideo and I are in the same classes because Tsunade knows us and she pretends to hate us but really doesn't.

Same with Anko. Kurenai likes us. Asuma thinks we are wimps. Kakashi keeps his opinions to himself. Hana is Shiro's bestfriend.

They say bestfriend is one word even though it's not. I think that Itachi pointed that out when they were young and Hana beat him up because it made Shiro sad.

I like Shiro. I feel like she understands me- my happy, my sad, my angry, my fear, my pain. She's like the mother I never had.

I think she understands the bittersweet taste in my mouth too. The one I get when I see Kikyo.

She is sitting with her messenger bag in Her lap a few rows away, near the window. She looks angry. Nobody is talking to Her. She is sitting next to the pink-haired girl.

Hideo is fidgeting. He tends to do that often. Especially in class, except gym. In gym he's moving.

I can see the piece of wire he's fiddling with under the desk. Funny, the pink- haired girl is messing with something under her desk too.

Creepy, how they are similar. I think her name is Sakura Haruno. She's been here forever, and she's always a teacher's favorite because she's really smart and punctual.

Hideo moved here when he was ten. Shiro was fifteen then, like we are now. I remember how he was quiet and sullen for about fifteen days until he saved me from the other kids who were picking on me. We've hung out ever since.

Kurenai called attendance.

I just raise my hand when she calls my name- Kurenai knows I don't talk much. Then, she called Her name.

"Kikyo Otsuki." My head jerked spastically to the side. It was weird. Pavlovian influence. When Father says that name, I usually dodge something.

Shh, you didn't hear that. I'm not supposed to tell. Maybe, if I keep you safe, I can tell you about it later.

Kikyo answered to Her name. She sounded angry.

It made me sad.

The collar is itchy. I hate it. I bet my neck is really pale underneath it. It's been there since fourteen years ago. It's reaching its limit of width. I really can't grow much more or I'll choke. Good thing I'm skinny.

I actually think Hideo hates it more than me. He glares at the officials when he sees them. Murder in his eyes.

I'm scared. I'm a coward, Father says. He's right. Why is he always right? It hurts me. But I have to keep my mouth shut, afraid and in pain.

The bell keeps ringing, and I feel silly. I'm not really learning anything. Anko taught us all this stuff already, in her course overview. It's just a bunch of rules on the first day.

The pink- haired girl and the Girl have started to talk.

I hope they will be friends. She deserves friends.

It stops my heart when She catches my gaze.

I feel scared again, so I flee the classroom and continue my day. Hideo complains that he left his wire in Kurenai's classroom. When we go there for English, it's not there anymore.

In Science with Anko, she caught him staring into space and made him recite pi.

I didn't count how many digits he got to. I did time him though; it was 4.2764388 minutes for him to recite only part of what he knew. I know 50.

I think he knows about 654. Or maybe it was 673? I forget.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

After rushing through the stuffy hallway, I'm in a stuffy classroom with stuffy kids and stuffy old windows. I mess with a piece of paper under my desk, folding it and unfolding it and vice versa. Over and over.

The girl next to me looks like she wants the world to explode and have everyone die before she does so that she can laugh at them.

Wow. I can't even believe that I can see the aura of 'I hate the world' around her. She's got cool blue hair.

She's got pretty eyes, too.

At the end of homeroom, I reach over and poke her shoulder.

She jerked her head towards me, eyes narrowed, "What?"

"You hate the world, right?" I shot back, ignoring her glare.

Glare+ My Weird Question = Surprise.

"Huh?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed, "You look like you want to kill someone. Or a baby harp seal. Or a butterfly."

Now it was her turn to laugh, "Really? I was frustrated, I guess. Don't really want to be here." Fiddling with her pencil, she suddenly latched her gaze on someone or something behind me. I turned, twisting in my chair.

The kid with the notebook was leaving. All I saw was him turning away. His friend was waiting by the door.

Packing up my stuff, I hefted my Shakespeare tome and started marching out with the new girl towards English. I stopped when I passed a desk.

On it was a twisted length of wire. Kurenai walked over.

She must've noticed it too. She plucked off the table and looked at us. We stared back.

"Girls, can you give this to Hideo Shinigami?" She asked politely. Some guys in the back (loitering) snickered.

"Yeah, he might have an epilepsy and explode. Get brains everywhere." Kurenai threw a dirty look at their retreating backs.

"Okay, we will." I say, taking the wire. I studied it.

My mind followed the lines. It was hypnotizing.

Kurenai showed us to the door with a 'you'll be late if you stay.'

The girl and I walked to all our classes and I learned her name was Kikyo. I was still stealing glances at the wire. I decided that I'd give it to him tomorrow- he was one of the two boys on the cement stairs. I think.

In Science, Anko made him recite as much of pi as he knew.

268. 268 digits he remembered. On my count, at least.

Did he have nothing better to do with his time?!

The rest of the school day was, like, bleh.

I hate school sometimes.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

College separates me from Shiro. I feel her absence, but I also throw myself into my studies of the human brain.

I want to help her. She describes her world to me. I listen. I imagine. I try and come up with a cure.

In the end, I can only imagine.

Psych.

Anatomy.

Advanced Physics.

Advanced Calculus.

My day drags on. Today, I feel only my studies and her absence. A white space follows me, a whisper of her presence. Perhaps I too have her ailment.

No, not an ailment. It is her own reality.

I am glad I can be inside of it.

I don't have much comments on today.

I went to pick her up, after class. She smiled brightly through her pain. The people make a space for her. They think they know her 'problem'. I stride up slowly. She is still smiling sadly. Her eyes, which always appear wet, seem to ripple with her unshed tears.

Standing in front of her, I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She sniffled like a scared child.

When I touched her, I felt her painful memories and fear of the people around her.

The other students avoided us.

We were just the schizo girl and her boyfriend who is foolishly in love with her. I took her hand and pulled her away from the campus.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

Homeroom is pointless. I sat staring out the window as the rest of the class yelled and talked loudly about stupid things. I snorted.

I answered to my name, yay. Attendance is pointless too.

Stupid. Stupid. Stuuuuppppiiiiidddd. The girl next to me had weird hair, too. Pink. I guess I'm a hypocrite. Blue vs. Pink? Which is weirder?

Nobody spoke to either of us.

I was content to stare out the window and be annoyed until I got poked in the shoulder. I don't like being poked. I turned angrily to the person.

It was Pinkalicious. Yep. That's her name. At least, to me it is. I don't remember her name from attendance.

"What?" I snapped irritably at her. She studied me for a second and replied.

"You hate the world, right?"

Huh? The thought ran through my head. Took me a second to realize that I'd actually said it.

"You look like you want to kill someone. Or a baby harp seal. Or a butterfly." Hey! I would never kill a baby harp seal! They are way too cute to harm, even for a angry teen like me!

I replied sheepishly, "Really? I was frustrated, I guess. Don't really want to be here." I twisted my pencil in my hands, wondering what to do. I never had much social interaction before that wasn't negative.

I am kinda worri- My thoughts went dead when I looked up.

I was pretty much staring at green. Light green. Highlighter green. Forest green. Electric green. Army green.

Every freakin' green in the book, it was in this kid's eyes. Meeting my purple gaze, he only was there for a moment until he turned away and walked out.

Was he running from me? The heck?!

But I'd never- Pinkalicious was looking at me.

Oops, Kikyo was staring at a guy. Caught red- handed. Crap.

We got up and walked out until Pinkalicious stopped at a desk with a twisted bit of silver wire on it. The teacher, Ms. Yuuhi I believe, walked over and picked it up.

She looked at us. We looked at her. She looked at us. We looked at her.

"Girls, can you give this to Hideo Shinigami?" She asked nicely. Hideo was that guy who was sitting next to Green Eyes, right? See! I do pay attention! I was about to answer when I heard a voice in the back of the classroom.

"Yeah, he might have an epilepsy and explode. Get brains everywhere." A guy's voice. Figures that what he said was stupid, just like most things boys say. Plus, I think he used the term epilepsy wrong.

I was considering throwing them apples at those boys, but they left before I could say so and Pinkalicious said okay to our mission.

The word 'mission' makes me happy. It gives me meaning.

Ms. Yuuhi ushered us out, "You'll be late if you stay!"

I don't think Pinkalicious was listening. She was staring at that wire.

It didn't interest me that much. I mean, it's a piece of wire.

We were swept down the hall to our next classes. Nothing notable happened except the fact that Pinkalicious, whose name is Sakura, told me she'd give Shinigami the wire tomorrow morning.

She's kinda obsessed with the wire. It's weird.

I like Sakura. She's awesome. She kicked a guy in the shin in Science.

Anko liked it too. She's our Science teacher. She throws chalkboard erasers at people. Usually people who are fooling around in the back.

She clocked this spiky- haired kid on the head for not paying attention. Then she made him recite as much of pi as possible.

I listened for about five minutes. She stopped him before we wasted the whole period hearing the digits of pi. I counted 267 numbers in all that he'd memorized.

It was _insane_. Then I remembered that that kid was Hideo Shinigami. I decided to come to school early so that I can meet Sakura and ask Shinigami how the heck he learned 267 digits of pi.

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

Hi, you're my head. Welcome to school. Land of homework and scary women. Namely Anko.

We are in Kurenai's homeroom. At least it's not Anko. Anko made half our grade think I was gay for about two weeks.

I can't tell if she likes me or wants to fry my guts over a bonfire.

She's just one of those people.

Kazuki is writing again. He actually looks up sometimes. That's different.

I got bored so now I'm fiddling with a piece of jeweler's wire that I found miraculously in my trench coat pocket.

I have magical pockets.

I like wire. You see, I can always bend wire to my will. If the world was wire, I'd be a lot less gloomy. I hate losing to anything, and wire always loses so I'm not complaining.

I do like the concept of the world bending to my will though. Then Kazuki wouldn't have the dumb collar. And sis wouldn't be so sad. Oh, and I would be rich and rule the world. That too.

I never thought I'd hate a piece of leather as much as I hate that collar. I hate the symbol more, though, it is so frustrating. I can't just go over and cut it off yet, but someday I swear to god my ADHD will make the stupid collar a victim of my switchblade. Because yes, I have one and I can use it, thank you very much.

When I see the officers strut past with their keys, I see red. No, really. It's like a fog of crimson over my vision.

Sis says it's part of our old berserker blood. But then again, you never know. It is my sister, after all.

She could be right, or she could be wrong. Fluff comes out of her ears and rivers come from her eyes.

If you listen, though, diamonds come from her mouth.

I love my sis.

I don't like her boyfriend though. Because he's her boyfriend. And I don't like my sister's boyfriends. Even if he's nice enough and he's also her first boyfriend anyway. But I'm not going to contradict myself (I guess I just did), so shut up… I'm confusing myself.

Kurenai is going on about something, I'm ignoring it, Kazuki is writing.

Then she calls attendance and Kazuki's head spazzes out. It jerks to the side when this one girl's name is called. She's new.

Kikyo, I think? Forget the last name. I make the connection immediately.

It's _that girl_. And I'll leave it at that.

I look over at her. She's got blue hair. Like sis. But sis's is lighter, like baby blue.

She's talking to Sakura Haruno. Haruno is the golden child of the school. Tsunade, our principal, is her aunt. All I remember is her kicking me in the shin in 4th grade. It hurt. She's okay, though. For a girl.

The bell rings, I have to wait for Kazuki as he has a staring contest with Kikyo, and then we leave. I don't mention her, or the aforementioned staring contest.

In Science, I was minding my own business and Anko marches over and demands (loudly) that I recite pi because I wasn't paying attention.

Paying attention to _what_?

Your _mom_, okay? Your _mom_.

So I started. And kept going. And going. And going. I only reached 269 when she stopped me.

I was like, what? You ask me to recite all I know and _stop me_?!

I growled and sat down.

Yeah. Sit. Stay. Good Hideo. Arf.

Your _mom_, okay.

I was kinda relieved when the final class ended.

* * *

_A little girl with pretty eyes swirls in the backyard of a mansion._

_A man with big dark blue eyes runs out, sweeping her into his arms and they laugh._

_Her bells to his deep drum._

_Father!_

_He laughs gently again. Brushing her hair out of her round baby- face, he set her down on the ground again._

_Hello Sweetie! How was your day?_

_She blinks happily. Her emotions are on her sleeve._

_I played in Atlantis today, it was so pretty!_

_Really? I'd love to go someday, with you!_

_She laughs. Wagging her small index finger at her father she playfully scolds him._

_But Father, you need to be a little girl to go there! They told me so!_

_He raised an eyebrow._

_Who told you this? I think that big fathers like me should be able to go too!_

_She giggles, again. Withdrawing her scolding pose, she ponders this with her hand on her chin._

_Okay! I'll tell them that I want my big Father to come with me!_

_And it was happy. For a time, until the sky cried and her big Father was lost to the raging sea._

_Atlantis welcomed his doomed ship._

_Atlantis is for them._

_Invisible, but only to people who are not_

_Little girls with big Fathers that love them until his big heart fails and the dark seeps in._


	3. Anko Scare and a Little Girl

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-3-

-

-

-

_Many things dictate life. Mostly, it is your own choices. _

_But why, and how, do two people that have the right chemicals meet like that?_

_Is it the same thing that is called consequence?_

_People do not have destinies. _

_Not destiny that he's alive._

_Not destiny that she's alone._

_Not destiny that he's hurt._

_Not destiny that she's scared._

_Not destiny that he's sad._

_Not destiny that she's naïve. _

_So what? So just what? All we know is that they somehow must get through this._

_To live you must die._

_

* * *

  
_

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

Screw this. I'm really annoyed right now. In case you haven't noticed.

Even Kazuki is kind of avoiding me. We're sitting in our usual spot in the lot. A fern is poking me.

I don't even bother with it. I'm just sitting on my death steps and hating the world.

One of the more obnoxious guys asked me if I was PMSing. He has a black eye. Even if I don't look it, I haven't been training with Anko for five years straight for nothing.

Plus, he was asking for it. Ran off. He's nursing his booboo in an alley somewhere, disregarding the fact that the bell will ring in about ten minutes.

Kazuki keeps shooting me with these Oh- My- God- You- Punched- Some- Kid looks. I just ignore it.

Geez, pacifist.

I naturally forget to look up when I hear the grass swishing. I'm too busy hating the world, idiots.

"Uh… Hi?" A voice breaks my thoughts. I look up. I'm guessing that I look a bit scary right now. Trench coat definitely not helping.

It's Sakura. Oh, and… oh crap. Kikyo, too. Kazuki's in for it.

"Yeah?" I say, raising my eyebrow. Sakura pulls out my wire.

Okay, my day got a _bit_ better. Just a bit.

I can feel the weird sensation that my pupils are dilating wildly. Great. Sakura's giving me a look.

Girls and their 'looks'. Gosh.

I reach out and take it, "Thanks. Sakura, right?" She nods, looking uncomfortable. She's shooting glances at… that's Kazuki. He's trying to shrink down smaller than he already is.

Totally not gonna work.

"That's Kazuki. Gotta problem?" I growled. It's the common, 'Oh dear it's a collar' issue.

She glares at me. If looks could kill, those green eyes would have killed me about seven times already.

"Well, I do have a problem. It's got nothing to do with him, though." She raises a fist. She's got a sweatband around her wrist, "I'm thinking that you're being a jerk." Her eyes narrow.

I glare back. Her light green eyes flicker. It's not fear. I can't tell. But I do know that I usually win staring contests.

The weird eye color and pupil thing helps. Usually.

Sakura's not unnerved. At all.

I should be annoyed. But I'm not. I guess it's a welcome change from the other people who look away five seconds after they meet my gaze. She's too close, actually. It's a bit awkward.

A new voice pipes up, "I think you'll both spontaneously explode if you keep doing that. Hey, Brat. Don't make me hit you. Cut out the staring contest."

Oh for the love of-

"Ms. Mitarashi?" It's Kikyo. She had turned to confront the newcomer and was standing face to face with the scariest woman ever to set foot on Earth. Kikyo gulped, visibly. She'd seen what happened to kids that don't pay attention in Science yesterday.

"Hey kids. Having fun? By the way, call me Anko sweetie." She says, in her creepy voice that should be spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e instead of creepy.

We stare at her. Even Sakura and I have switched our attention to the purple- haired woman.

"Hey, Brat. I've made a decision." She states (originally addressing me), scanning over our faces with her grayish- purple eyes.

She calls me Brat because it annoys the crap out of me.

"Yes?" I answer civilly. She smiles, and her grin is creepier than her voice.

"I'm taking on you four as my students! Aren't you happy?" She exclaims brightly, her grin widening.

We stare at her, as previously stated. I review my experiences in training with her.

I shudder. You know what? I'll spare you the details.

Anko's face darkens as our prolonged silence continues.

"What? You're not happy?" She says, widening her eyes in a freakish imitation of innocence.

I answered, and, in my classic idiotic fashion my answer was 'No.'

"SHUT UP BRAT, YA BRATTY BRAT MCBRATPANTS! Now, for my naming ceremony…" She yelled, and then eyed each of us in turn. I winced, I knew what was coming for the others.

I'd already been through this.

She pointed a finger at Sakura, "You're Spitfire." Sakura looked confused. She might have looked in my direction, but I can't tell.

Then the Scary turned to Kikyo, "Hmm… You're Windy." The girl in question raised a brow. She unconsciously shifted her weight towards Kazuki, who shrank away at the sudden movement.

Anko rolled her eyes at his skittish behavior, "You're either Girly or I could call you Shifty. What's it gonna be?"

Kazuki snapped to attention and reluctantly replied 'Shifty'. Anything but Girly. Please.

I thought it was over, but apparently I was wrong. I hate being wrong. She knows it, too. She's smiling evilly.

"Bratty, I'm gonna upgrade you. Brat is a little degrading, no?"

I don't reply. Anything I say can be used against me at this point.

"I'll call ya Fluffy."

I glared. One of the girls made a half- hearted attempt to stifle her giggle.

"Nah, just kidding. You're still Brat. Got it? All your classes are with me now."

We. Are. Screwed. Big. Time.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

Sakura and I are going up to a spot where, according to her, those two boys are always hanging at in the morning. We chat about silly things, like how annoying Math is and how much we hate Twilight.

Pansy vampires. No, pansy _sparkly_ vampires.

Apparently Sakura likes Barcelona. That's good, because I do too. We rattle off our favorite songs till we reach the old crumbling stairs.

Then we're silent. All I can hear is our legs moving the tall grass aside. Sakura's wearing heels, and I don't know how she's ignoring the itchy grass feeling on her bare legs. She marches up to the one named Hideo.

When she reaches him, she hesitates. Eventually she says, "Uh… Hi?"

He looks up. He's got this misty angry look blanketing his features.

'Yeah?" His trench- coat bad boy look kind of accentuates the annoyed look he's got.

Sheesh, who stuffed what down his pants? Whatever it is, it's most likely hard and sandpaper-y.

She pulls out the wire and holds it out to him. He reaches out and takes it.

"Thanks. Sakura, right?" he asks. I can see her head bob a bit in a nod. Her back is stiff.

Never mind what's up with him, what's up with her weird nervous attitude? It's not like he's some kind of hottie or something.

Okay, well maybe both of them are a little on the handsome side. But ask for that in writing and you won't get it.

Instead you'll get a kick in the face. I'm a black belt, you know.

Sakura is looking curiously at Green Eyes. He's sitting in the grass with a really (cute) innocent look on his face.

Hideo snaps something, but I'm not really listening to their conversation anymore. Sakura is snapping back.

They _are_ made for each other. And based on this encounter, they're gonna get married.

I like Sakura, so hopefully I'll be there. I've never been to a wedding before.

Instead of listening to their snappy exchange, I'm looking at Green Eyes.

His name is Kazuki. My eyes mist over. Kazuki… Kazu… Kazuki… Kazu… so… same- sounding.

But, of course, that's not possible. No matter how creepily similar it sounds, there is no way Kazu is this boy.

I don't even know if Kazu _survived_. I miss the kid.

Let me attempt to explain. When I was little, before Mom and Dad died, we lived in a town. Don't know what town exactly. I was about three.

All I remember is a blurry rendering of my parents, and a clearer picture of a boy with green- grey eyes with bags under them, ratty dark hair, and pale skin.

This image comes with a name. Kazu. Always has. Even as Mom and Dad's faces blur, his is always crystal clear.

Apparently, I was attacked by a man named Daisuke (forgot the last name- don't wanna remember) while I was playing on a cliff with Kazu.

My parents were called by a frantic neighbor. They jumped in their car, called 911, and tried to rush there.

They got there too early. The man called Daisuke shot them.

That's how I ended up as a new kid in a new, crappy old town. Owned by the government. No other family.

I didn't totally notice that I was still staring at Kazuki until a voice rang out behind me. Meanwhile, Sakura and Hideo were glaring at each other.

(Are those _sparks_?!)

"I think you'll both spontaneously explode if you keep doing that. Hey, Brat. Don't make me hit you. Cut out the staring contest." The gravelly female voice cut through my foggy mess of thoughts. I whipped around, breaking eye contact with Green Ey- I mean Kazuki.

"Ms. Mitarashi?" The name of our Science teacher rolled my tongue before I thought about it. She looked at me.

I swallowed. I really didn't know why we were in trouble, but I certainly did not want to be on this woman's bad side.

"Hey kids. Having fun? By the way, call me Anko sweetie." Anko answered, voice a little _too_ sickly sweet. And I don't like being called 'sweetie'.

The two that were previously glaring at each other (AKA: The two most likely to get married) switched focus to the tall teacher. In fact, we all stared at her. In awe or in fear I'm not quite sure yet.

"Hey, Brat. I've made a decision." Hideo's expression goes even darker. He looks pained. Like, really. He's in pain.

"Yes?" He answers through his teeth.

"I'm taking on you four as my students! Aren't you happy?" She says rather loudly. Wait, what? Students? Weren't we already her students?!

We (as in Kazuki, Sakura, Hideo, and myself) stayed silent. I personally was waiting for the, 'Just kidding!' part of this exchange.

Her grin falters menacingly, "What? You're not happy?"

Hideo replies immediately (And kind of stupidly. I mean, really? Is he _trying_ to get killed?!), "No."

"SHUT UP BRAT, YA BRATTY BRAT MCBRATPANTS! Now, for my naming ceremony…"

Oh my black on a Popo, she's _loud_! Okay, what is a naming ceremony?...

I'm scared. Hideo seems to know what's coming. He's got this sympathetic look on his face- but it's laced with a lining of smug. I don't think he realizes it, though. Oh, and apparently Anko calls him 'Brat'. Don't wanna know.

She turns on poor Sakura, "You're Spitfire." Okay, not too shabby. Fits, but Sakura looks a bit scandalized.

The evil eye turns to me. I feel like turning into that pebble that is next to my foot. She's gonna kill me.

"Hmm…," Oh Lordy Lou, just SAY IT!!! She continues slowly, "You're Windy!" … Huh? Okay. Whatever. That's not too bad.

I'm still mulling this over, so all I hear for Kazuki is that he's now called Shifty. Well, it's kinda true. Earlier, I just moved suddenly and he nearly jumped three feet in the air.

I turn my attention to the naming of Hideo. I had guessed that he was going to be called Brat, but I guess I was wrong.

"Bratty, I'm gonna upgrade you. Brat is a little degrading, no?"

Silence.

"I'll call ya Fluffy."

I stifle a snicker. Heh… more like Spiky.

"Nah, just kidding. You're still Brat. Got it? All your classes are with me now."

Hideo looks PO'ed.

Sooo… what now? She's walking away, and motioning for us to follow.

Should I be scared?

…

Okay, I get the green light for Panic Way. On Route 911 in Holy Crap Land.

OMGOMGOMGOMQGKNUBYVBNNMLL,ANGLMAKJFAKNDGVUL IAFH VALMSN FVGAKDLFMBHANDLFHBL ;EMIOUG;ENUGME;OIGUMOEUNGIISBYBUKGTKHGS,!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*splode*

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

It's a new day. I'm a little achy from last night (it was pretty nasty). I'm just glad that my face is fine.

If it wasn't, Hideo would be curious again. It's bad when he's curious because if he doesn't find out what he wants to know he thinks he lost at some game.

He gets annoyed when he loses. It's part of the Hideo 101.

We're sitting in our usual spot. I don't really know what to say, other than Hideo is like a perpetual storm cloud right now.

Something's wrong. I'd be a hypocrite if I pestered him about it, though.

He actually punched this kid. I swear, that guy went flying back a couple feet.

Hideo is much stronger than he looks. I think he's trained with Mrs. Anko… which would explain everything.

I keep accidentally getting caught when I give him my look. I'm trying to get my 'don't punch people' point across.

It's not working. He's ignoring me.

I look up when I hear the uncommon sound of footsteps coming up the hill.

It's Sakura and… and Kikyo. I hope they don't notice me. I try to shrink my skinny frame even more into the grass (which is now tickling my nose). Sakura is willing herself to go up to Hideo.

I don't blame her for being a bit nervous. Maybe she heard about his little escapade this morning.

"Um… Hi?" she says, causing him to snap out of his little 'I Hate The World' happy place.

His pupils are doing the freaky dilating thing, "Yeah?"

She pulls out the wire. The Wire. Oh, thank god. Maybe he'll be a bit less temperamental.

I must say, it's not the worst tantrum I've seen in these five years.

I'm going to explain instead of recording the conversation:

I met Hideo when we were ten. He saved my butt from a bunch of guys who liked to beat up on me. It's easy to beat up us collars. The teachers look the other way, usually.

We never even considered not being friends. It's like a weird brother link. Freaky.

For about five years, we've hung out. He doesn't have any other friends, really, at least that I know of. Neither do I. I don't think we care much about our lack of popularity. Well, I don't and I never really needed to ask for his opinion. He pretty much lets the world know his opinions, just not his thoughts, if that makes any sense at all.

We met Anko shortly after we became friends.

She kind of, well… recruited him for a special after-school training regime that he gets really paranoid talking about.

Just as a note, I don't want to know what she does to him. I'm sure it's nothing too disturbing. Probably just mildly mind-scarring mind+ body training. In other words, hell.

Now we're here, confronting two girls. While he's in one of his moods. This sucks.

By the way, I'm terrified. Mostly because She's staring right at me.

I'm going to stop writing numbers now.

Whew… lists.

Kikyo's eyes are misty. Like She's remembering something.

Her eyes are pretty. Violet. But there's some kind of anger there.

Again, it makes me feel like a failure. I've always felt that way, after the incident. But I want to talk to Her…

I know I can't, though. She'd hurt me. I hear-

"I think you'll both spontaneously explode if you keep doing that. Hey, Brat. Don't make me hit you. Cut out the staring contest."

Kikyo turns and exclaims, "Ms. Mitarashi!"

Uh…?

"Hey kids. Having fun? By the way, call me Anko sweetie." Did she just call Kikyo 'sweetie'…? I bet She didn't like that.

We are collectively looking at her. She's very imposing, tall and firey-eyed.

"Hey, Brat. I've made a decision."

Oh, dear. Hideo's nickname. He hates that.

"Yes?" He sounds like a snake when he talks through his teeth.

"I'm taking on you four as my students! Aren't you happy?" Wha… Oh crap. Students? As in whatever happened to Hideo? In that case, count me out! While I was busy worrying, the rest of the group stayed silent.

"What? You aren't happy?"

She's got the crazy look in her eyes. Different crazy than Father, but _still_…

"No."

If Hideo had signed a contract that said, "Anko is allowed to kill __________, he could not have surpassed the absolute stupidity and irrational-ness of that single word.

"SHUT UP BRAT, YA BRATTY BRAT MCBRATPANTS! Now, for my naming ceremony…" Anko, you see, is very loud. She also has the tendency to switch from a furious rant to a sweet tone of voice in a second.

It's a bit disturbing. All the same, I think that both me and Hideo have a soft spot for the crazy Science teacher (don't tell her I called her crazy, please).

I fear this so-called 'naming ceremony'.

I'll write down the results here:

Sakura= Spitfire. Hmm, a bit more fitting than I thought. Sakura seems to have a bit of a temper sometimes, as demonstrated in class the few times I've observed her.

Kikyo= Windy. … I don't get it. She moves too fast towards me in her thoughts, and I flinch out of the way. Stupid Pavlovian influence.

Myself= Shifty. At least it isn't 'Girly.'

And lastly, Hideo got stuck with Brat… again.

Well, I am going to write again later. I got to go, Scary Lady is making us come with her as the bell rings.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

hello

again

it's nice to see you

last night, I saw

the woman like Anko but not

her eyes are different colors

one is black and one is

green

and all I can do is hope that this doesn't mean that she will leave the living soon.

I don't feel well

today

so I sent in a notice

to the college

letting them know I can't

come

Itachi wanted to stay with me but he had to go

I wanted him to stay too but

he needs his degree,

doesn't he?

I smiled and told him I would be fine

because I will

I may not be 100%

but I will be in a few days

right now I'm sitting on the couch with a nice book and some hot

chocolate with whipped cream

because I don't like coffee

it's too bitter

and I don't like bitter things

hmmm…

I hope Itachi comes home soon

so that I can sit next to him

on the old couch

(He's always warm. How does he do it?)

well I guess the man with the funny way of speaking

is enough company

I hope Itachi won't be jealous!

I'm sure he won't, though

because the man (his name is Midori) is in love with the Not- Anko (who may or may not be who I think she is)

I tell him casually

to just

talk to her

like Itachi did when we

started going out

but he's scared

I laugh and shake my head

soon enough the flower will bloom, you watch

and I'll water it every day till

it is as beautiful and red as 'Tachi's eyes

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

Shiro needs to take better care of herself. She is sick today.

She's got a nasty cough and her nose is running.

I'm working on a paper for psych. It's not too hard, just about ten pages. It's due on Friday and today is Tuesday.

It's still early. I was considering staying home, but she talked me out of it. I left her just as she was settling herself on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate.

I didn't see it but I know that it was hot chocolate because she hates coffee, it's too bitter for her. She hasn't asked many of her questions lately. I find myself missing her logic.

I like coffee. But it seems ever since I started living with Shiro and her brother I've needed more and more sugar in it.

Her brother seems to dislike me, as I have said before. I'm pretty sure it's the same type of dislike as that of a father. He may not like me, but I have a certain fondness of his foolish attitude.

He reminds me a bit of Sasuke. A bit more talkative and easygoing, but still.

Red eyes and chicken-butt hair always flash in my nightmares. I'll wake at one in the morning panting. Shiro always manages to help me. She sleeps in the same room as me on one of the twin beds.

I'll be awake sometimes and the only thing that can send me to sleep is watching her side rise with each breath.

It was an assurance, an assurance that everything would go on tomorrow.

That we were still breathing. That she's still there; that's all I need. Ever.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

This is it. This morning, I'm going to give back the freaking wire.

I have no idea why I'm so nervous. It's not like I'm going to fail or anything. He's just a kid in my class.

Shut up. I know what you're thinking. This is not a clichéd shojo manga.

Kikyo and I are walking up the hill, talking about how lame vampires are and how not- lame Barcelona is.

Sqee! Barcelona!

Okay, I feel better now.

As I approached the hill, we both went silent. I don't know why, but I had butterflies in my stomach.

When we got there, I inwardly screamed in frustration at the sight of that idiot sitting under that big boulder. He's gonna get killed someday.

And you know what? I won't come to the funeral.

I attempt to walk up and not look as nervous as I felt. I don't think it worked; then again I don't think he even noticed.

It's like he's possessed or something. He looks mad. I remember a time, about when we were all eleven, when Hideo would get really snappy and mean for certain periods of time.

And when that had happened, it was MAD. As in Mutually Assured Destruction. _The _best acronym ever, by the way.

Well, back to my quandary, 'Uh… Hi?"

Oh my God, that was _so lame_. Way to go. At this rate he'll probably just ignore me.

Okay, so never mind. He looked up. His eyes are really, really bright. Like, they're glowing- I swear.

Just FYI, I've never seen this kid wear any bright colors. Ever. And it makes him look scary sometime, especially when you are trying to talk to him when he's being emo. Like now, for instance.

"Yeah?" His voice sounds more raw than usual. Wait… how did I know that? I've only ever talked to him in class. From what I recall, he always sounds a lot like… like… a cross between that kid Kiba and- and-…

Okay, I just can't go there. Bad places where Uchihas live. Dark, bad brain space there. I've had a horrible experience with that accursed family.

I hand him the wire. His eyes are kind of going from one extreme to the other very quickly. One second the pupil is huge, the next it's really pinprick small.

"Thanks. Sakura, right?" Well thank you, not many people remember my name. I'm usually 'That Nerd In The Corner'. Yays.

I cast a Look at him, and then my attention is distracted by the other kid, Kazuki, shifting in the grass. I'm just curious, but… I've never had the chance to talk to a collar before. People tend to separate us from them.

"That's Kazuki. Gotta problem?" Okaay, I think he's a bit touchy about people looking at Kazuki funny. It's to be expected. The two of them are inseparable (like… bffls, srsly) and Kazuki gets a ton of crap for being a collar.

Because Collar= Bad in our world. For some reason. Only way to find out why? Ask one of them. But you're not allowed to. Ever.

But you know what, it gets on my nerves today. The snappy attitude, I mean.

I narrow my green eyes, "Well, I do have a problem. It's got nothing to do with him, though." I raise my fist, realizing milliseconds later that I have revealed my sweatband. I'm nervous, but like crap I'm gonna show it. I continue, "I'm thinking that you're being a jerk."

We end up glaring at each other. Aunt Tsunade has taught me the art of staring contests. Get distracted and zone out. Even, I guess, if the person you're glaring at has creepy dilating pupils and crimson eyes.

Red is actually one of my favorite colors. It reminds me of… I don't know. Blood? Roses?

Wow. Blood and roses. Awesome. Yay.

Hmm… Oh gosh.

I just realized something. Here, let me list it for you (I like lists. They make me happy!)

I'm staring into a boy's eyes.

His eyes are pretty.

My brain exploded when I realized this.

In fact, let me tell you that in general he is very, very pretty.

Let me add that even I, the Great Sakura, can be entranced by pretty boys.

I cannot tell Auntie about this.

I cannot tell her because she'll never leave me alone.

I like lists so I'll just keep listing the reasons this is awkward.

First of all, he's pretty. As I said before.

Second, I am notorious for never having boyfriends EVER.

Third, He's closer than I'd like. Like, a foot away or so.

Fourth, I just know that Kikyo will notice this.

Fifth, this list is way long but I don't care.

Sixth, he's also notorious for never having girlfriends EVER.

And Lastly (I need to finish this) He's not pretty. He's handsome.

I lied. Not ending yet. He's only half glaring now. I don't think he realizes this yet. I hope he doesn't, it gives me the illusion that we are not glaring at each other because we are both trying to avoid ever being labeled as 'stupidly hormonal'.

I'm ending this list now. You never heard anything about him or the word handsome. I need to focus on not blushing now.

I am jerked out of my thoughts when I hear Anko's voice from somewhere behind me.

"I think you'll both spontaneously explode if you keep doing that. Hey, Brat. Don't make me hit you. Cut out the staring contest."

I am going to start breathing out butterflies now. They seem to think my stomach is too small for their antics. I am so lucky that I have mastered the Anti- Blush Technique. It actually almost failed back there.

It has _never_ failed before. Ever.

Kikyo unnecessarily exclaims, "Ms. Mitarashi!" I love her to pieces already, but Kikyo needs to learn what to call Anko.

Just for future reference, don't call Anko Ms. Mitarashi OR Mrs. Hatake. She may be married to Kakashi, but you just don't mention it. In fact, the only reason I know is because I live with Aunt Tsunade and sometimes the teachers come over for dinner.

Anko is always just Anko.

"Hey kids. Having fun? By the way, call me Anko sweetie." Oh well. I guess she let Kikyo off the hook because she's new.

"Hey, Brat. I've made a decision." She's addressing Hideo. He looks like he just was threatened by a guy with a chainsaw machine gun.

"Yes?" he responds. He is pretty good at the emotionless thing, but he still looks a but scared. Er, actually more like defiant.

"I'm taking on you four as my students! Aren't you happy?" Okay, that is random. Aren't we in her class already? Or are we in some kind of special program? And… how did she know all four of us were up here?!

There was silence.

She frowns, pouting slightly. It would be funny if it wasn't someone as terrifying as Anko.

"What? You aren't happy?"

I feel the aura behind me. I'd turned away from him, but I just knew Hideo was gonna reply sulkily.

"No." Resisting the urge to turn to him and hug him goodbye, I waited for the death. And blood. And gore. And… stuff.

"SHUT UP BRAT, YA BRATTY BRAT MCBRATPANTS! Now, for my naming ceremony…" He's still alive. Now I'm glad I didn't hug him. That would be awkward. But wow, she's loud.

I aspire to be like Anko someday. I loves her!

She sizes me up.

"You're Spitfire." Spitfire? Okay. I like that. I get written off as a quiet nerd, but I do like my evil side. Usually I go with what my evil inner says instead of Ms. Rational (my conscience).

Ms. Rational sucks. Heh, Spitfire 1, Rational 0.

Kikyo is apparently 'Windy'. The crap?

And now Kazuki is getting picked on. Aww, he's not girly. He's just never grown out of the 'aww!' phase. You just wanna hug the kid!

He got stuck with Shifty. Despite sounding like a Pokemon's name, it's not _that_ bad.

Okay, it's bad.

Anko turns on Hideo. He's regarding her with the 'Don't Kill Me, But Don't Talk To Me Either' look.

"Bratty, I'm gonna upgrade you. Brat is a little degrading, no?"

Heh. I don't even want to know how he got saddled with Brat as a nickname.

"I'll call ya Fluffy."

Hmm… I think something else would work better. He's more of a Brat than Fluffy anyways.

"Nah, just kidding. You're still Brat. Got it? All your classes are with me now."

ALL OUR CLASSES ARE WITH ANKO NOW!?

On one hand, crap. On the other hand, awesome.

But I do want to know (as we walk with her into the building) why _we_ in particular are with her. Are we… special?

Or is it something else? I clench my sweatband on my wrist.

* * *

_Parents should always be there for their children._

_They walk towards the door, bags packed full. She looks up with tired eyes._

_Again? Are you going away again?_

_Yes, dear. We'll be back in-_

_She cuts her mother off._

_No you won't. You left so long ago, I don't even remember when you were here._

_Her father frowns and begins to say something she shakes her head violently._

_No. No! Don't try it. I'm leaving, too._

_She starts up the stairs, twelve- year old legs pumping with each step._

_Come now, don't do this. You need to stay here-_

_I said NO! I'll… I'll go to Aunt Tsunade. She'll… she's always been there for me!_

_We're always there for you, too, sweetie. Don't overreact, it's just a business trip._

_The girl's father makes a move towards the stairs. The girl jumps back, running to her room. Her voice, muffled and cracking, barely reached their ears._

_She's a better parent than you guys will ever be._

_Her mother gasps, and her father assumes that she had also heard what their daughter had said. Instead, his wife was staring at her watch._

_We'll be late! We have to go! Honey, you can stay at Tsunade's if you want, okay? We'll be back in a month or so!_

_She pulls her husband out the door, and they drive off into the night. Upstairs, the girl stares at a picture frame of when she was younger, being held by her proud parents._

_In a fit of anger, she rips herself out of the picture and stuffs it in her pocket. Snapping the frame in half, she places the two other pieces of the picture in the wreckage. Stuffing all her clothes and belongings into her favorite duffel bag, the girl runs downstairs, races out the front door and out into the empty town streets._

_Sure. I'll go stay with Aunt Tsunade._

_And you know what? I'm not coming back._

_In the bottom of the bag lies a sweatband. For her costume._

_Survive._


	4. The Collar and a Cruel World

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-5-

-

-

-

_Anko is very idealistic._

_She also hates government._

_(Just because of her experiences with it aren't so good.)_

_She doesn't have a religion; she likes to save souls in her spare time._

_A soul has nothing to do with religion or God or what socks you wore this morning._

_It's what's inside of you._

_She sees them for what they are._

_A suffering young girl._

_A battle- hardened soldier (who just wants peace)._

_A beautiful, chained songbird._

_A shell of a boy in ragged, bloody skin._

_A man who should still be a boy._

_A girl haunted by a past filled with love and death._

_She helped two. She needs to help six._

_But how can we unlock a cage without the hands to do so?_

_Do the best you can._

_Knock it down with your feet._

_

* * *

  
_

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

When I came home, she was outside. In the rain.

Rushing to her, I noticed that she was staring at the grey (and darkening) sky.

"What's wrong, Shiro?" I asked. She closed her eyes, and raised her fingertips as high as possible.

"The sky is crying."

I gazed upwards as well. They sky was indeed crying, spitting electricity and frothing black clouds.

"It looks angry. Can you look out through the window? You'll make yourself more sick." She tilted her head and looked sadly at me. Lowering her arms, she burrowed her face in my shoulder and allowed me to slip an arm around her waist and lead her inside.

She was disturbed. I could tell. I caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. She leaned her head on the doorframe tiredly.

"I'm worried about Kazuki…" she answered my unasked question. Shiro always answered questions- but you had to ask them first.

"Why?"

This time she sighed, "I see him. He's afraid, hurt. I don't… I want to help him. But… I know he won't tell me anything," she paused and then continued, "At this point, I'm afraid to let him go home. Wherever that is for him."

I grunted. Kazuki's home situation has always bothered her. Shiro considered him a younger brother… or maybe even a son, despite the mere five year age difference.

The so- called 'collar'. The country would have us packing them away and forgetting them, but people that resisted have been numerous and hid their friends and family away from the government. These people were fugitives, seeing black collars behind them every step they took.

We were the rebels. We cared for the 'collars'. That was our duty to humanity.

Shiro has over-developed mother skills. Always has.

Glancing at the clock, I stared blankly at the device that told me that it was merely eight. She looked too. Then we looked at each other.

I sighed, holding my temples, "I think I will go to bed early, but…"

She tilted her head, questioning.

"Don't you think Anko has been keeping Hideo rather long after school again?" I ask.

I raised an eyebrow. Her beautiful smile widened into a grin. She was thinking of something funny including the demon known as Anko and her foolish little brother, no doubt. And it involved mass amounts of stress and pain for the former.

Anko as a coach? I shudder at the thought… Kakashi had been our coach, along with Deidara and Hana.

We'd been a weird team.

"She added three others, though. It's like us, a bit: Anko added Kazuki, and two girls. A Kikyo, I think, and a Sakura."

I let out an amused grunt, "Do you think she's trying to…?"

Shiro smiled as I headed up the stairs.

"Yes. No doubt about it."

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

Okay, today was just weird. So Anko takes us to a room, right? And debriefs us, right?

She's like, 'Hi guys, you're all going to be trained in athletics after school. Each of you will have a different sport, and you will be a professional when you're done. Or else.'

Uh… Yay?

Okay, here's the lowdown:

I'm gymnastics. Like, handstands and stuff. I suck at that…

Kazuki is going to swim… apparently he doesn't really ever get to. He barely knows how, actually.

Kikyo is going to be a runner. I can see that. Actually, I think she's the only plausible one on this wonderful list.

And apparently Hideo is too cool to be listed. Anko didn't include him. I wonder what he's doing…?

Lemme go back in time:

He was just staring out the window the whole time. It's really cramped in the room, and only about six desks could fit in there… Anko stands where the imaginary two extra desks are. Her voice is deafening because it bounces off the walls. Oh, and she's loud anyway. That too.

There are carvings and doodles all over my desk. Kikyo's desk is, like, shredded. Hideo… has a weird desk. It's got clouds drawn on it with white and blue paint.

Kazuki's desk is blank.

Anko told us that we could do whatever we wanted with the desks- you just can't cover anything that was there before. Whoever sat where I am was really artistic- I'm jealous. I am okay, but I'm no Picasso.

Kikyo is in the same category as me (maybe above), but she's got an edge: She can copy everything! I'm gonna call her the Copy Ninja. It's official.

Kazuki is staring at his desk funny, like it's going to eat him. Poor kid, he's paranoid.

"Oi! Shifty darling, your desk isn't very interesting… whichever of the previous students who sat there must've been a stick…"

His head snapped up. He looked surprised and scared. And really, really cute in a little kid way. His eyes went all huge.

Anko's taken to calling him 'Shifty darling'. I think she'll eventually move to just 'darling' later. I would do the same if I were Anko.

Pfft, who said teachers can't have favorites?

"Okays! Now, I'll give you your partner. I'm sorry, girls, but I didn't want two boys in one group so I had to mix it up."

Great. So I'm either with Kazuki, or Hideo.

…

I'm gonna ditch Hideo here. PLEASE BE KAZUKI! PLEASE! PUH-LEESE!

While screaming this in my head, my idiot eyes ended up staring at said Ditched.

He was sitting in front of Kikyo, who was sitting next to me. And I'm staring.

Yeah. Me, _the _Sakura Haruno, am staring at a guy. A guy my age.

My inner is screaming, '_A really hot guy my age!'_ , but I think you'll agree you never heard that.

Focus, focus. What can I think about? Hmm…

Oh, yes. My Hopeless Case. Kikyo.

I can tell she's looking at Kazuki. She's not looking, either. She's _looking_.

NOT LIKE THAT!

It's like a really cute misty- eyed look. And I'm gonna bring a camera tomorrow and get Anko to help me. Kazuki is catching her looking, and she'll look away and he'll blush and fidget while she pretends nobody saw anything and look like she's all cool and stuff.

Ha, fool. Nothing escapes me, the evil Sakura Haruno. I actually can't believe that I got over the fact that the collar didn't make people evil or whatever so fast. In here with Kazuki sitting with us… nobody seems to notice it anymore. He's just Kazuki.

I, a shining saintly girl by the name of Sakura Haruno, could get over the dumb propaganda around Collars!

… I have a lot of titles, don't I? … That was rhetorical, answer and die.

Anko's proclamation rings through my head suddenly.

"Kikyo, you're with Kazuki." She says, no paper or nothing. Then it hits me.

She's been _studying_ us. She _noticed_ them being all cute and stuff.

And since they're a pair… oh great. Yay. Just my effing luck. This means I'm stuck with Hideo.

Don't know what the pairs are for yet, but the rest of the day was normal. I mean, as normal as regular subjects with a _not_ regular teacher could be.

Okay, back to the present. I'm in my room. It's very plain. I like the window, though. I can see the whole city from here.

When I'm here my mind goes black. The aching reminder that I'm really alone. Sure, Aunt Tsunade lives here, but she's very busy all the time so I don't get to spend much time with her.

At least she loves me. Like a mother would. Should.

My hand unconsciously reached for my top drawer. Pulling out an object, I glided my finger over its edge and flinched at the bead of crimson blood that oozed out. Staring at it, wide-eyed, I sighed.

Why did it hurt me? Is something wrong?

I stared at the razor blade. Ripping off the sweatband on my wrist, I examined the thin, white scars on the pale skin.

My stomach flipped. What?

This was my antidote. It shouldn't hurt. But, something had shifted after I came to school this year. These past two days had done something.

They took something away.

Angrily, I stuffed the blade in the drawer again. Sucking the blood off the cut on my pointer finger and replacing the sweatband, I plopped down on my bed and glanced at the clock.

It was eight. I'd eaten dinner with Aunt Tsunade at five thirty. She's probably still working…

Deciding to read, I pulled out my book (The Book Thief, just FYI).

I love to read. I've been able to read since I was two and a half.

Apparently my mother had taught me how. I turned a page with more force than necessary, making a small tear near the binding.

When my eyes watered, I became frustrated and wiped them off haphazardly with my hoodie's sleeve. Something was funny with me. Maybe it was just stupid hormonal crap.

I hate that.

Making sure I looked normal (were my eyes red still?... No), I continued to read until I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in!" I called as cheerfully as possible. Tsunade stepped in gracefully. She is a blonde, brown- eyed, and busty woman with a scary temper and a gracious smile. With a blank expression on her face, she came over and sat on the edge of my small twin bed.

"Sakura…" She started, uncertain for once. I was a bit surprised- Aunt Tsunade usually wore her emotions pretty easily around me.

Turning to face me, she continued, "I'm sure you know that I okayed the class with Anko?"

I nodded. I knew she would have known.

"… There was a class like that a few years back."

I looked at her, silently urging her on.

"Have you ever heard the names Shiro, Itachi, Hana, and Deidara?" This made her smile a bit. But it had a sad curve, too.

A deep hole tore open in my stomach. One of those names…

"I… I've heard of Hana, of… of course. And… and Itachi, too." I croaked, throat suddenly dry. She nodded gravely. Hana was the normal math teacher. She's a tall, brown- haired Inuzuka woman with a fiery temper and a tendency to punish students in weird ways.

But Itachi was _his_ older brother. The boy who broke my teenage heart.

Tsunade read my mind, my eyes, "I'm sorry to bring him up, Sakura. But this is his older brother, not him. In fact, they don't talk much anyway. But that's not what I came to tell you," She gave a shuddery breath. She was scaring me.

"Sakura… a plane crashed over the Atlantic today."

No. No. No. No. Can't be…!

"… your mother… my sister… Amaya and your father, were on that plane, Sakura." Her chocolate brown eyes were like steel behind her overflowing tears.

Plane. Crash. Mother. Father. Atlantic. Together.

Fragmented words and pictures flashed before my eyes, and leaving just as fast as the tears left my emerald eyes.

Me, my parents at the zoo. I was nine.

I'm crying into Mom's shoulder when Dad was in a car crash. We found out he was fine later. I'm eight.

My dad twirling me around in the air when he came home from work. I'm four.

My own childish laughter and tears and eyes and them just pass me by.

A final image assaults me: The clouds on Hideo's desk. Painted with blue and white.

In class, I'd absentmindedly noticed a plane flying towards the bottom of the desk. It was painted in pastel yellow.

I was crashing. The plane on the desk was crashing, too. It was some cruel joke that Fate had, that today poor little Sakura Haruno would see a desk with a horrible image and later find it as the truth.

I was crashing. Towards a red sea, filled with blood and pain. Tsunade held me, and we cried until I fell asleep in her arms.

I was crashing, crumbling, with only red to catch me. The red poppies engulfed me and held my trembling form tight.

If only I could stop falling, crashing, and tumbling, I'd be able to think straight.

'If only' s' never got me anywhere.

I hate yellow.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Anko is a strange person. I don't have much time, but I'll speed- write. That's why I don't have a 'dear nameless' today.

I'm home now, but apparently I will be trained to swim. That's okay, because the few times I've been in water I've enjoyed it immensely.

I'm paired with Her. I'm scared; I'll never be able to look Her in the eye. My brain screams at me when I do so. Bad images, hurt and afraid.

She was staring at me today. The look She gave me made me feel better. It shouldn't but it does.

I don't deserve it at all. I kept feeling my face heat up and start to twitch. She'd look away fast.

… Is it that degrading to be caught looking at me? Or, one of my kind? The collar itches and scratches my neck. I remember, in an attempt to cheer myself up, that it'll be winter soon and the heat won't be there to make sweat pool on the edge of the stupid thing.

I'm surprised that the girls got over the fact that I'm a collar.

The emblem keeps reflecting on the window, right where I can see it. It's following me.

The symbol for my kind, the OUT64s. 'Collar' was a snobby term that the government had fed to the rest of the public. It's gotten so bad even we call ourselves that.

It's going to be eight soon. I have to leave when that happens. Anyway, I must go.

Father is home. Yukio is scrambling out the door.

I don't move. Running makes him madder.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

I can hear Itachi come home

But I'm

Outside in

The driving

Rain

He comes out the back door to me

And I am looking up to the sky

"What's wrong, Shiro?"

The sky

The sky is crying

And I

Raise my hands

As a preacher

To the stormy heavens

And say please

Please let him be okay

And have the bonds that

Tether him

Released into the equally

Angry sea

My clothes are wet

And Itachi is considering his answer

Like he always does

He looks sad

And the rain is running down his cheeks

Which already have lines in them

(they've gotten fainter, but still…)

And I wonder why the sky makes

People look like

They are crying

"It looks angry. Can you look out through the window? You'll make yourself more sick."

He's right

I flit over

And put my head

On his shoulder

He leads me inside

And when we are inside

He asks silent questions

I answer

Because I told him I'd never

Keep an answer from him

Because there is no need when your

Mind is one with

The one you love

I am worried about

Dear Kazuki

With his choking collar of black and silver

"I'm worried about Kazuki…"

Poor, pained Kazuki with a cloud above his head and sadness at his heels

And a little girl's shadow

Following his every step

Sometimes

I think he

Can see her

And he'll whip around

With his battered heart bursting why why why

And his mind screaming how how how

But he sees nothing

Because

She is a mere

Fragment of

A shattered dream

An ancient tortured silhouette

"Why?"

I must explain it to

Him

But it's so hard

Because I am alone in

My visions

But I'll try

For him

"I see him. He's afraid, hurt. I don't… I want to help him. But… I know he won't tell me anything. At this point, I'm afraid to let him go home. Wherever that is for him."

It is simple enough

And he understands

I can see his bright eyes darken

With the

Worry

And pain

And we stand

In a

Silent

Telepathy

Until he sighs

"I think I will go to bed early, but… Don't you think Anko has been keeping Hideo rather long after school again?"

I flash a smile

Because the thoughts and

Memories

Warm my soul

As a mother's arms

My poor

Little brother

I grin widely

And continue

"She added three others, though. It's like us, a bit: Anko added Kazuki, and two girls. A Kikyo, I think, and a Sakura."

He laughs in

His silent Itachi

Way

And asks,

"Do you think she's trying to…?"

He heads up the stairs

And I watch

And decide to stay up

A bit longer

Because I'm not tired

Yet

My smile does not fade at

The thoughts in my head

Which

Have smiles

And silliness

And silence

And loudness

And overall love and happiness

"Yes. No doubt about it."

My heart is lighter

But

I can feel the

Dark presence

In the room

Filled with

Angst

Woe

Self-lamenting

And love

I glance at the shadowy figure

And he looks back

With clouded eyes

And a mesh of poison in his veins

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

Sitting on cement a good thirty yards above more cement always helps me recuperate from a long day.

And today was a long day indeed, what with Anko and the strange confrontation with Sakura earlier.

It was pretty awkward. But, hey, whatever.

Today was boring because all I had to do was stare out the window. I already had the debriefing done (about five years ago) and the only part where I paid any attention was when she called partners and when she told the others what they'd be doing.

I can't even remember the last time I saw Kazuki near a pool. Seriously.

Kikyo… I don't know about her.

And Sakura? Heh. Let me just say that Asuma thinks she's the most un-athletic person on the planet.

She has bad luck, especially in dodgeball. She's gotten pegged in the stomach twice.

… Don't even mention the time I got whacked in the face. Go there and die. Painfully.

So, I'm paired with her. I'm just wondering what Anko's gonna do about coaching gymnastics, swimming, and running at the same time.

Sucks to be her.

Anyway, currently I'm on the top of my favorite building in the Playground. It's probably about eight, or eight- thirty.

I like to watch the moon. Somehow, I end up wondering what it's like being a glorified chunk of rock floating in space.

Must be fun, compared to this world.

This world, where people are persecuted for having a collar around their neck and a different blood running through their veins.

OUT64. Kazuki'd told me the true term, long kept from the public. Forever shrouded in a cloak of science and math that us 'normal' people could never 'comprehend'.

That's a load of crap, in my opinion.

I growl out loud, only to have the stars wink mockingly at me and the moon keep staring unblinkingly.

You know what? I'm really sick of it.

Eyeing the drop, I dismissed the thought.

Probably because people cared about me. This person called Hideo Shinigami.

My sister and her motherly love, her boyfriend that I don't like, Hana who is almost as scary as Anko, Anko herself, Hana's boyfriend Deidara who freaks me out, Kazuki who is holding on for dear life, Kakashi who taught me so much, Kurenai who supported me, Asuma who told me to stop being a wuss, Tsunade who is like an ultra- scary Anko.

Two other faces flash into my mind, but I dismiss them. I'd only known those two for a few days.

…

…

…

Okay, fine. Sakura and Kikyo, who are in my group.

Climbing to my feet quietly, I begin to make my way home.

The only sound is the clanking of the pipes and dripping of water.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

The cracked paint is glaring at me accusingly. The color, a dull cream, is so ugly that I want to bash my head on a brick wall.

I am humiliated and angry at myself.

All of today, after Anko debriefed us, all I could do was glance at Kazuki and have a faint flicker of recognition.

A ghostly trick of the light kept morphing his face into Kazu's. It was a shadow; a nightmare. Carefully schooling my face took immense effort, and I am tired.

I can't help thinking that I am thinking way too much about Kazu now. It's ridiculous. What am I; in love with him? I met him when I was eight!

… I lost him when I was nine. And my parents.

And my smile.

That's what I can picture most clearly: Kazu's smile. He'd grin and laugh even when the bags under his eyes were prominent and his skin was a grayish white.

Because I was a naïve kid, I thought nothing. Suspected nothing.

But then again, it's not possible that Kazuki is my childhood friend. He's tan and looks a heck of a lot healthier then the small child I remember.

I am paired with him by some kind of evil twist of fate. I was nervous at first- the collar marked him as different. The different that the social workers told me was bad.

I hadn't seen a social worker since I moved here; and frankly, I'm glad. They annoy me.

Kazuki kept catching me looking at him. It was embarrassing.

I've decided. There is no way that he is Kazu because he doesn't grin like him. Kazuki gives this little half- smile, and even if his face lights up a bit and his eyes smile, it's not the same.

I trace my finger on the wall. Sighing, I stood up and migrated to the crappy kitchenette, grabbing some cereal and milk. Pouring my cereal into the milk (I always pour my milk first, for some reason or other), I slid into the single dark green chair and started to push the cereal around in the bowl.

I didn't notice the time when I started to stare out the dusty window.

Eventually, I get up and glance at the clock.

TEN THIRTY?! When did it get so late? Thanking my lucky stars (if I have any) that I had taken my shower earlier, I bolted upstairs and got ready for bed.

When I turned the corner, I saw a girl a bit older than me with her palms on the upstairs windowsill edge. Light streamed down onto her face, illuminating her pale face. Blinking rapidly, I saw her form get more and more transparent as I blinked.

I ran over to the window, which had appeared to have the morning sun shining through it.

It was pitch black outside.

* * *

_-{[( Guest: Midori )]}-_

A young man sits on the arm of a frayed blue couch. He doesn't realize it's blue- color has long been absent in his world. He exists here only, in this house with the Girl in it.

The Girl is kind to Midori. He appreciates her kindness; but no matter how kind, she cannot erase the ache in his heart.

Funny how it starts. It's a flutter at first, then a pounding, and (if you are as unlucky as Midori) a sharp pain.

The world and its systems is cruel. Especially love; it is a throbbing wound in his psyche.

She's oblivious, of course. She's always been that way. Even through her sightless eyes, though, she brings him hope.

If not a dying, rotten hope. Midori's wings have long been cut.

She'd come into this house in a flurry; The kind Girl had let her in.

That strange young woman with lavender hair and teasing eyes.

Mismatched eyes. One green, the other ebony.

He'd helped her settle in. But the world is cruel, even to those like him who had had their final sleep.

He'd fallen.

Now, he could only watch as her heart was given to another.

Midori is a shell.

He'd given up before. Now, it was not an option. The two lovers who were still in the other world spoke, and Midori watched silently from the corner.

When the black- haired one went upstairs, the Girl turned to Midori.

Don't pity him.

He cannot even feel anymore.

That pain is left behind with his flesh.

Or is it?

Is it?

The silhouette of a shadowy woman can only ask.

Midori is a shell, delicate and cracked.

He's running with scissors pointed up towards his breast.

* * *

_A white- haired man, coming back from his university, turns the corner. He's holding up so much inside, it hurts._

_When he arrives home, it is nothing like he'd thought._

_There, inside, is the girl he'd die for laughing and holding the hand of another man._

_He walks inside. Setting down his briefcase, he takes off his jacket and marks off another day on his calendar, like always. He hears the laughter from the other room stop in a hush._

_December 13th, 1931._

_He walks into the other room, hands trembling secretly._

_Serena?_

_The young woman is frozen with horror. Wishing he'd disappear and that he'd never caught her, she stood openmouthed- hand still held in the other man's._

_I- I can ex-… Midori!_

_He keeps his cool._

_It's fine, Serena. If you're happy. I just…_

_He falters, but looks her in the eye. Her eyes are streaming tears. His are glassy._

_Nothing. A void inside. He'd given up on having light bless him again._

_Be happy, Serena. Even if I'm gone._

_He walks to the elevator. She rushes out, following._

_Somehow, she's always one step behind him._

_He reaches the top floor- the roof. Still striding along calmly, his white shirt blows in the winter wind._

_The cold cannot freeze him anymore than his heart had._

_The wind rushes past his ears, and he waits for the darkness._

_A woman's scream echoes above the city._

_MIDORI!_

_The moon gazes down in all her unforgiving silver might._

_The world is cruel._


	5. Injuries and a Key Ring

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-5-

-

-

-

_Kakashi knew a little girl's parents, once upon a time. _

_Good people, with a cute little girl with fire in her eyes and a spunky attitude._

_They were gone. _

_For some reason, love kills more than hate ever has aspired to._

_For instance;_

_Two siblings with a homicidal mother and a dead father._

_Another two with previously distant parents who no longer breathe._

_A girl who had her heart broken by the ones she loved most; not once, but twice._

_A boy whose very existence tortures him in the form of his own father._

_Lastly, a little girl with fire in her eyes and a spunky attitude that her parents died for and left her all alone except for the shadows from her past._

_He is grateful that he will never have children of his own to die for. All he has to worry about is the other love._

_The love that killed a young man many years ago, on top of a forlorn apartment building._

_That young man was Midori Otsuki._

_And Kakashi knows that Midori's tragedy still stalks the world today._

_How many lives will be claimed?_

_Time will only tell._

_

* * *

  
_

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

I am walking along the cracked sidewalk yet again. It's funny; in this town, everything resets back to the day before.

Everything's the same. Even that couple walking a little ahead are the same. The girl is about, oh, maybe a few years older than me with shiny eyes. The guy is tall, dark- haired and imposing.

She glances at me, only to look horrified and turn away swiftly.

Do I really look that much like a zombie? It was only twelve when I got to bed…

Sighing, I dragged myself into the lot in front of our _lovely_ school and hiked up to the secluded spot where Hideo and Kazuki usually are.

I get half-way across the lot when I notice a very familiar person trying to inconspicuously walk to the same destination.

It's Kazuki. He must be late.

Seeing as he is going to get beat up (probably) I walked up behind him.

"Hey." I greeted. He jumped a bit and half- turned in my direction.

Oh my asahdlksknfhslsmglsgmslmcrap.

He's all cut up! Even has a black eye!

I sucked in a breath, "What happened to you?!" I whisper- yelled. He flinched when I grabbed his arm. I tightened my hold and he let out a whimper of pain.

What, is his arm all banged up too?!

"Kikyo…!" He squeaked. Okay, maybe I was holding his arm too tight… I loosened my fist. Immediately, he twisted out of my grasp.

(I was a little hurt. Was it that unpleasant to have my hand on his arm?)

His bright green eyes were wide. The black eye merely accentuated the already- dark bags under his eyes. There was a cut on his cheekbone.

That idiot, he's biting his lip and it's bleeding.

"I- I'm fi-fine, Kik-Kikyo." He stammered hastily. Fine, if he's not gonna tell me why should I care? I don't even consider anyone here a friend except maybe Sakura. I frowned and stormed off to the stairs of doom (I'll call it that. –Shut up).

He ran after me. Gosh, what is he, a lost puppy?

Well, when I got to the stairs of doom, Kazuki and his habits was the last thing on my mind.

Blackmail was the first and foremost.

Let me summarize:

Where nobody in the main lot can see, is my friend Sakura doing something she'll regret I saw later.

She's hugging Hideo. And not moving. He just looks shocked. I can't see her face… hmm…!

My mind switches from mischievousness to serious. Her shoulders are shaking- she's crying!

I step into Hideo's view and make eye contact. He nods slightly and then shakes his head.

Yeah, he can't move. She's literally clinging to him for dear life.

If she has a boyfriend that broke up with her, I'm going to kill him.

If someone died, I'm going to kill them.

If she's being hormonal, I'm going to kill… uh, someone.

If… if… Okay, I just want to help my friend!

I do the next best thing that I can do besides run up and hug her (which I can't because then I'd be hugging both of them), and call her name.

She lifts her head from Hideo's chest. Her life- squeezing grip must've loosened, because he put his hands on her shoulders and carefully slipped out of her embrace.

(Heh, poor kid. He's blushing ever so slightly. I'll never let him live it down later. Right now, I have bigger fish to fry.)

She's staring glassily ahead in my general direction. Kazuki is still behind me.

I turn a bit to see what he's doing. And he's-

-Hiding his face. Glancing at Hideo, I realize that he will bother the crap out of Kazuki if he sees the kid's black eye.

"Sakura? What's wrong?" I ask softly. She shakes her head and more tears slip out. She opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a certain woman who happens to be our teacher.

Anko is serious for once, "Sakura, I need you to come with me. The rest of you, come to the room in five minutes." After getting a nod from all of us, she put her hand on Sakura's shoulder and led the girl inside. She was still sobbing once in a while when the door closed, I think.

I was just too busy wondering what could make a strong person like Sakura break down like that.

Also, I am keeping my eyes on Kazuki's beaten-up form.

He's breathing too hard to be normal. And we'd only just walked up the hill.

Everything is just _so wrong_.

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

I'm waiting for the others on my death steps. Today is perfectly normal, except the fact that Kazuki is way late.

I'm nervous. I can see the look on my sister's face when she sees Kazuki- the one that says that she's not sure he'll come to school one day.

I guess it's none of my business what my sister sees. However, I do know what _I_ see and it's not good.

He's constantly coming in to school with bruises. It bothers me.

Stumbling footsteps snap me out of my reverie. It's Sakura.

Her eyes are red and glistening. She's about to cry.

"Do you have parents?" She asks, her voice blank. I blink.

"No."

I feel like I should answer her. Even if it means digging up things best left alone.

"… What's it like?"

I narrow my eyes, "The same as any other life. You have to move on."

She is silent, but her eyes are begging me to ask her 'why?'.

I eye her carefully. I stand up, feeling the need to be able to run if necessary. Her eyes follow my movement.

"Why?" I gave in.

She blinks. The tears don't fall just yet.

"I just want to know that life goes on. My- my parents…" Her voice cracks miserably.

I know what she's going to say.

Why, why does this happen to people like Sakura?

Just don't say it. I've heard it once, twice, three times before.

Just don't say it.

"… My p-parents ar-are d-de-dea… Hideo!" She wails, grabbing her head him her hands.

The tears fall. All I can do is watch as another life is poisoned. I am silent. No kind words can help her now.

I call out to her quietly, "Sakura?"

…!? A flash of green eyes.

Apparently I don't get to stand and watch from afar.

She's… she's pretty much squeezing the life out of me. Sakura is clinging to me for dear life, and it's kind of scary considering that I've never seen her so upset, ever.

Even if I haven't known her that well all these years, I can tell that she's not one to do this type of thing often.

This is actually very embarrassing. Not because she's hugging me, but because I am so socially inept that I can't comfort her at all.

Oh, and her face is buried in my chest. That too.

Oh, and Kikyo is standing right there. I think Kazuki's behind her.

Crap. Kikyo makes eye contact. I nod my head.

She was asking if Sakura was crying. I think.

She is now asking if I can do anything.

… I shake my head no.

I really can't. If I move away without Sakura distracted, it'll make her cry even more than she already is.

(Actually, she's crying less now.)

"Sakura?" It's Kikyo. Sakura twitches.

Lifting her head up (And making breathing easier), she turns her head.

In order to escape without upsetting her, I gently set my hands on her shoulders and duck out of range while she's turned around.

(I'm annoyed by the fact that my face is heating up.)

Kikyo turns to check on Kazuki (who is still out of sight. He's hiding from me. I'll deal with him later.), and then looks back at Sakura.

"Sakura? What's wrong?"

Sakura begins to reply when Anko stalks out of the side entrance. She plants herself next to Sakura and addresses us.

"Sakura, I need you to come with me. The rest of you, come to the room in five minutes."

She leads Sakura inside.

Kikyo is lost in her own thoughts and doesn't notice it when Sakura turns and makes eye contact with me.

I'm just trying to convince myself that I couldn't breathe earlier because she was hugging me so tightly instead of the close proximity.

Sakura's not crying anymore. She spins around and disappears into the dark building.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

something is wrong

I feel

the need to

go back to the old classroom

but I don't know why

and Itachi and I

are walking to school

and I have a paper I wrote in my bag and it's about

twenty-two pages

long

but that's not important

right now because

the new one-

Midori, his name was?

he's behind the girl with blue hair

and I look back at her

and I see her eyes

they are the same violet eyes

she is quiet

and not quite as angry as before

perhaps

it is

Midori's presence?

but I do see

the dark shadow

that follows her

kept at bay only by Midori's

fearlessness

he is protecting his ancestor

no doubt

they are like brother and sister

and I wonder how they are actually related

perhaps… a father of a father of a father?

or something else

he looks at me and shakes his

head

"I have no children. My brother is her real descendant."

"Love abandoned me too soon for children."

I understand

now

and I look away

and the girl is confused

and I see that walking within

the dark shadow

is the little boy who followed her earlier

and he's afraid

she turns into the school lot and

I pray that the shadow stays

far behind her

Itachi has noticed

me watching

her

and takes my cold hand

we will

be okay

but the ground is still

remembering how the sky cried

last night

and so am I

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

Today is not a good day. Last night wasn't so good either. Actually, it was worse. Now I have a black eye and a cut on y face from a serrated knife.

It still stings.

Walking across the lot, I stay close to the side of the building in an attempt to avoid as many people as possible.

Hideo is going to bug me all day. I don't want anyone else to. He's enough of a nag already.

We're best friends, but even best friends can think each other are annoying. I'm sure he thinks I'm annoying, too.

"Hey." A girl's voice behind me. I half- jump and turn in her direction.

It's Kikyo and Her eyes just got really wide.

… oh laffdnvdffmleurunvmr_crap_.

My face. She's staring and now she's going to ask…

"What happened to you?!" She hisses, and now She's up in my face. She grabs my arm tightly and it _hurts_. I guess my arm was more bruised up than I thought.

"Kikyo…!" She's angry because I'm not telling Her what She wants to know but She's in my face and my arm is throbbing and I just want to disappear under a rock or something because did I mention She's in my face? And my voice sounds like a girl's because when I am in pain sometimes my voice gets higher.

Her death-grip loosens and I pull away immediately. Her eyes flicker, like She's hurt or something. What?

I'm biting my lip so hard to keep myself from going bright red that it's bleeding.

"I- I'm fi-fine, Kik-Kikyo." Did I mention that I also stammer when I'm nervous?

I watch Her march off angrily. I can't do anything but limp after Her.

I think my ankle is twisted. But She doesn't need to know that.

When we get to the clearing, I really can't believe my eyes.

But you know what? No matter how good my vision is, sometimes life plays tricks on you.

Sakura is crying and holding on to Hideo (of all people) for dear life.

She told him something that is bringing up issues best left forgotten. His eyes are all misted-up and his expression is blank.

I can't help but wonder what it was. Hideo never looks as blank as right now. His mind is working furiously, but he appears to have had a brain explosion.

I can get an iota of information here:

Sakura is upset.

She is hugging my best friend.

He can't do anything because he doesn't realize what he feels like.

He is really confused even if he'd never admit it.

… In the end, that is a really pitiful amount of what is actually happening. I'm staying behind Kikyo in a (also pitiful) attempt to hide my injuries.

Kikyo asks Sakura what's wrong. Hideo escapes the pink-haired girls embrace with a very rare (seriously, like seeing a squirrel in the ocean) blush on his face.

It's not going away. Is it getting worse?

Anko has arrived. She tells us three to come to the classroom in five minutes and escorts Sakura inside.

While walking in, Sakura looks back at Hideo.

Her tears stop flowing when she does so, but…

Her green eyes are liquefying, like she's going to cry but not. Her hands are shaking a bit.

She whips around and scurries after Anko.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

This morning, I woke up early and got dressed.

I want to go to school. Tsunade won't let me if she knows. Even she is taking a day off.

Grabbing my bag, I slip out of our house and run to the school. I wore my more casual clothes, a tank top, ripped skinny jeans, and black boots.

No heels today. I want to run.

My feet pounding on the ground, I run up the hill to the bench.

Hideo is there already. Even Kazuki isn't there yet.

Something possessed me to walk up to him and open my mouth.

"Do you have parents?"

He looks up. Not showing any form of confusion, he answered, "No."

He doesn't? I… I didn't know that. He always seemed fine. Like everything was okay.

"…What's it like?" I ask. I want to know. What happens? Maybe I'm just being an idiot.

"The same as any other life. You have to move on." He stands up, eyes narrowed.

For just a second, I can compare him to a wolf that's been found in the forest. Hideo looks distinctly animalistic sometimes.

It's his eyes. They look wary and guarded.

I just want to tell someone. He was here. That's all.

(Something tells me that if it was Kazuki or Kikyo I wouldn't tell them)

"Why?" He's still eyeing me like he doesn't know whether to stay or run far, far away.

The words come off my tongue without any warning, "I just want to know that life goes on. My- my parents…" My voice cracks. The heat of the tears in my eyes is scorching.

His eyes lose the wariness. Actually, if I had punched him in the gut he'd look less surprised.

His expression goes to a dark blankness.

One thing about Hideo: I've never seen him look so emotionless.

For a moment, I see another in his place. An indifferent, black haired boy.

I almost bolt. Then I realize that it's Hideo and not _him_.

It makes me feel better. Just a bit. But I need to say this in able to be cured.

"… My p-parents ar-are d-de-dea… Hideo!" I find that I can't even finish my last word without wailing. I comb my fingers through my hair in an attempt to wash away the pain.

(Later, I am forced to come to terms with the fact that I indeed half- wailed his name.)

"Sakura?" He is not telling me it'd be okay.

He's right. There isn't much he can do.

Well, I don't know what happened next, but I was suddenly holding on to him for dear life.

Sakura Haruno doesn't hug any boys. Ever. So why am I hugging him? Did my brain explode? Why do I not feel like moving?

Why the heck is this like hugging a rock? He's not really moving at all- is he breathing?- and he's all tensed up.

Never in my life had ever thought that I'd hug anything that wasn't alive. Right now, I swear to god he's freezing and really, really stiff. Did I kill him?

(Later, I am again going to face another fact: This kid is, like, one-hundred percent muscle. He's skinny and has no fat whatsoever. Scary.)

I'm not really crying anymore. A few tears leak out, but I feel a lot better.

I have no idea why. I'm more confused than anything, actually. Hugging Aunt Tsunade made me cry even more. How is this different?

"Sakura?" It's Kikyo. Oh, lord, how can I explain this?

Yeah, well the reason my face is buried in Hideo's chest is because my parents are gone and… and… well, it's actually his fault because he was the only one around.

Yes. Let's go with that.

Lifting my head and relaxing a bit, I half turn my head.

He runs away by hesitantly putting his hands on my shoulders and slipping away. I make note to thank him later for letting me do that instead of pulling away. Which would have made me feel worse.

I feel even better. Although I still feel like crap, a part of me is so happy that it makes me have the impulse to go and kiss him on the cheek or something.

That would be _so wrong_.

(No it wouldn't.)

(_SHUT UP_)

The rest of the few minutes was like a blur. I couldn't even speak. Kikyo was worried, Kazuki was in a shadow, and Hideo was silent as well.

Anko came and brought me inside.

On my way in, I turned and looked into Hideo's crimson eyes. My hands start to shake a little and my breathing hitches a little and my heart leaps into my throat.

The heck? This isn't normal. I tear my eyes away from his and stumble inside.

I'm halfway through the dark room before I realize that I'm not crying anymore.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

Walking to the campus with Shiro is always an interesting experience. Today is no different. She is walking with her bouncy step today- signifying that she is nervous, happy, or worried- and swinging her bag back and forth.

The blue-haired girl that goes to the high school is walking behind us again today. Her face is a lot less angry and she is obviously in a slightly better mood now.

Why does she still remind me of my foolish little brother?

Why does that expression still scream _Sasuke_?

It kills me a little inside every time I see it.

I've even seen it on Hideo. Very rare, but sometimes it appears on his face and it upsets me.

He still doesn't like me. I find it amusing.

Shiro glances at the girl. Mixed emotions flash in her shining eyes and fear takes a dominant place.

There is something that she can see. I cannot see what she sees, but I can help her cope with it.

I lace my fingers with her frozen ones. She and her brother both have very bad circulation.

(At this point, I curse my obsession with thinking out each word. I have very little amounts of useless thought- my mind automatically condenses every passing whim into a fact.)

Shiro says what she wants.

The only non- facts in my mind are the parts that have Shiro in it. This is because if I tried to condense it, a single phrase would come up every five seconds.

(I love her.)

I've told her so.

* * *

_-{[( Guest: Anko )]}-_

Having your employer and good friend call you at six thirty and tell you that her niece (your student) is missing and probably went to school without consent is annoying as heck.

Anko knows this because she has had it happen to her. It's happening now.

Tsunade's sister and her husband are dead. Crashed over the Atlantic ocean while going on (another) business trip.

Their daughter really is alone right now. Tsunade never had children of her own- Sakura was the closest thing she'd ever get to. She loves her niece like a mother would, but…

Sakura made a choice. She went to live with her aunt because her parents were always away. Childish.

Anko always had liked Sakura.

Anko is standing on the roof of the school, watching Sakura confront another one of her students:

Hideo Shinigami (Brat).

Hideo was special. Anko knew this, and even if she'd never be able to have children, he was like her son.

Oh, dear. This is so fluffy, no? She thinks as Sakura breaks down into the Brat's chest. They didn't even know what Anko knew.

Anko knows everything about human beings. She is, after all, the driving force behind the rebels.

She knows Sakura is thinking about how she feels better (And how ripped Brat is. The girl _is_ a growing young woman, after all. Anko thinks that Sakura is probably confuzzled.)

She knows that Brat is so confused that his brain just blew up and is being emo inside because of Sakura's predicament.

The two didn't even know Anko's plans. Neither did the other two.

They were so young, so afraid, so confused, and just so darn cute that Anko couldn't resist.

Anko liked to help people. Even if she was sadistic and terrifying.

* * *

_Two young people walk down a street next to a canal._

_The woman is loud and ranting wildly about something._

_The man is clam and collected, only saying what is necessary to placate the woman._

_You'd think they were cousins._

_You'd never guess that they were married, and in love._

_But they were, and anyone who said boo about it got shanked by the loud, purple- haired woman._

_Kakashi, it is so not good! What if those idiotic officials notice the camp? They'll be killed, or worse!_

_I know, Anko. It is bad, but it could be worse._

_She shakes her head wildly as they continue up the deserted streets. The bright daylight infuriates her._

_People were dying and the freaking sun kept shining like it didn't matter._

_Like they didn't exist._

_What about Rayn? Are you just going to forget he's there too?_

_He stops to open the door to a crumbling apartment._

_His finger twitches and he drops the keys._

_The echoing noise startles both of them._

_The woman stares at the keys on the gritty street._

_Never._

_He snatches the key ring off the ground._

_The insignia on the elegantly designed ring catches the sunlight and reflects a bright light._

_Even if it kills me, I'll never let them die._

_Never?_

_Ever._


	6. The Bestial and the Freaking Doctor

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-6-

-

-

-

_Hana Inuzuka is a simple math teacher._

_Hana Inuzuka is a fierce soldier._

_Hana Inuzuka is a precious person._

_Although she is many things, above all Hana is a human being who loves her fiancé, war, and her friends._

_And she will fight for justice in a world that has none._

_She will help Anko guide the next generation of rebels._

_A teen on his own battlefield._

_A steel butterfly._

_A calculating future leader._

_A nurse who has contracted sorrow herself._

_Hana Inuzuka will do her best. For herself. For her fiancé. For her friends. _

_Lastly, for Shiro. Because Shiro is the one who can see inside those who would harm her, and Hana is, after all, her bestfriend._

_

* * *

  
_

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

I've known for a long time that Anko makes no sense at all. But right now, this really takes the cake.

She _made Sakura stay in school._ IN CLASS. IN _**OUR**_ CLASS.

(NEXT TO _ME_!!! aszdsikhflgzsdgvh *Translation: profanity.)

She's pretending like nothing ever happened. I know better. What does she take me for, an idiot?

I am anything but. Calming down a little, I just put my head down on my sister's old desk.

Indeed. You didn't guess?

There are a lot of things I know that they don't. Maybe they never will. Actually…

I've seen things they shouldn't ever have to.

My brain is slowly recuperating since this morning. Sakura's eyes are still red and puffy.

I close my eyes and suddenly I'm floating above the classroom. My body slumps immediately. I look dead, for lack of better comparison.

This has only ever happened… three times. Now four. I forgot about this. Sakura has noticed my complete lack of movement. She hesitantly reaches over and touches my arm.

No response. Of course not- I'm here, not there. Her eyes widen.

I'm thinking I should get this over with. Willing myself down towards the ground, I touch her shoulder.

Just in time. She was going to tell Anko. She's afraid. I'd be too. Sakura looks up. I don't try and look comforting. I'm not here for that.

Anko has noticed by now. She had been turned around, but now she'd seen.

To clarify, she'd seen me motionless and Sakura staring at nothing.

Anko's smart enough to put the pieces together. I suppose that Kakashi had warned her about my sister and I already. She ignores Sakura and I, narrowing her eyes. She's going to have to focus Kikyo and Kazuki so that they don't look behind them.

Humph, that's her problem. I'm trying to figure out how to explain this to a certain pinkette. She's still in a state of shock.

I don't know what's happening either. So I shrug and sit on my own desk, swinging my feet back and forth nervously.

As I may have mentioned before, this has happened three times before now. Every time Death knocks on a neighbor's door. Somehow, when someone I know has a family member or close friend die I experience this weird out-of-body thing. I'll be floating above myself, and only the person that had triggered it can see me- the transparent me.

First, it was my sister and myself.

Kazuki.

Itachi and his numb brother.

Now, the fourth time, it was Sakura.

She's still trying not to hyperventilate. I blink and look away. In a sudden lurch, she reaches to check the pulse on my body.

She finds none. Her arm is reaching through my soul-arm. She shakes her head violently.

'_I DON'T UNDERSTAND.'_

I sigh. I don't either, Sakura. I just wait 'till it passes. Nothing else to do.

She is unfocused the whole rest of the class. She fidgets and twiddles her fingers. I pay attention, but I keep getting distracted by Sakura's nervousness and the dark thoughts flitting around my head.

Finally, class is over after Anko's geography lesson. Anko ushers the other two students out, summoning odd expressions on their tired faces. She blocks their view of me and Sakura.

She kicks them out. I realize that I didn't get the chance to bother Kazuki about his condition.

He never tells me anything. My grip is tightening on the desk.

I'm suddenly very angry. Sakura notices and shrinks away from me. I relax somewhat hesitantly. I don't want to scare her; she doesn't deserve that. But did she really think I'd hurt her?

(OF ALL THE FREAKIN' PEOPLE I COULD HURT?!)

A growl bubbles in my throat. Sometimes, I feel just a little different than most civilized people.

A little more animalistic. Just a little.

Anko stomps over and grabs her keys from the shelf where all her crap is.

"Get out when you need to."

We watch, openmouthed, as she walks out and locks the door from the outside.

Well… [profanity].

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

a plane

crashes above a sparkling

unforgiving

sea

and a girl is hurled out into the sea mist

I cannot help her

but someone else

is there

and it's a bigblackscaryscary

beast that snaps

her up

in its jaws

and skydives

into the sea

walking on the water

with calm ripples

and she screams and kicks

punches

claws its muzzle

only to have

it put her down gently

on the water

she sits

appalled

in awe

afraid

and hurt

staring at that beast

that snatched her from death

I close my eyes

And the vision is

gone

Itachi went out today

in a break between classes

he went to Sasuke

my poor, alone,

hurtagonypainagony

Sasuke

he said he'd

call me to

tell me how Sasuke was doing

but I'm scared

that the phone call will not

come

I've talked to Midori

and he's sick

sick

with a disease

that cannot be cured

I cannot help him

only she can

(That shadow- I recognize her now. It's Riyu. I pray that she is not dead, but… I can only see them. The dead ones. Please, Riyu, don't die. Don't… die.)

but she has been watching

and waiting

for another

(But Rayn's alive still- would she…?)

I gather my courage

I must help

I want to help

so I get up

and walk outside

I think

it's time

to pay a little visit to none other than

my very own doctor and psychiatrist-

Rayn.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

Sakura is wilting. She's named after a tree- it's only natural. But… I'm not the one she turned to.

Funny, I consider her my friend. My only friend I had here. I see her slowly getting better.

It's _him_. Freaking Shinigami.

(I act like I'm disappointed, but I'm so happyhappyjoyjoy)

He doesn't even realize it, too. That's what annoys me.

(SHE DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE EITHER)

What the crap did she subconsciously see in him, anyway?

Let's review what I've learned about him so far:

1] He's a smart aleck.

2] He's a _smart_ smart aleck. The kind that wins. The kind I feel like punching.

3] He's pretty cute. Not that I'm into him. Bleh.

4] He knows at least 267 digits of pi- a complete waste of time and effort in my opinion.

5] His eyes dilate creepily. And they're red.

6] Sakura feels very comfortable around him.

7] Sakura does not feel very comfortable around him.

8] He tends to be emo.

9] He always gets Anko's questions right and likes to back-sass at her.

10] He is apparently Anko's long-term student.

Okay…? And…? Not exactly Prince Charming. Really, Sakura, I thought your unconscious mind knew better. Gosh.

But still, I could already see the tiny beginning of a bond. They were friends, sure.

Perhaps I am looking at this too critically. Just friends?

I snort. Yeah, that's how it starts. But why did it start?

_WHAT HAPPENED TO SAKURA?_

I cast a sidelong glance at Kazuki. He's listening to Anko.

His bruise is a nasty purple. The cut on his face was scabbed over messily and the skin around it was red. What if it got infected? And whatever happened to his arm, too.

I glance behind me quickly. Sakura is zoning out. Hideo's asleep.

Wow, I'm in awe of the fact Anko hasn't killed him yet.

Actually, she was teaching geometry. The freaking math whiz (Hideo) had a right to snooze. Even I knew this stuff, and math wasn't my best subject. Not that I'm not good at it; I just dislike it.

Maybe that's a new title for him. The Freaking Math Whiz.

Tracing one of the numerous gashes on my desk, I look at the [formerly] tan surface and wonder in a little fear and awe who on Earth could shred a desk like this with… was that pencil?

I shivered. It was like a beast had ripped my desk to ribbons.

A beast… that's it! I want to add something to my list of 'Why Does Sakura Like Hideo Here Are The Things I Know About The Freak':

11] He can be compared with a wild animal. A lot.

It was something about the way he talked and especially the way he moved. Instinct governed over his words and body more than his mind did.

If it did, he wouldn't be as human. If I were him, I'd rather be bestial than frozen.

That made me remember a kid I saw the other day. I'd written him off as a jock- I was wrong, I think. He had spiky brown hair and looked suspiciously just like the normal math teacher, Hana Inuzuka. He had the clan tattoos on his face.

He's had that quality. More dog than human.

Hideo was not a dog, but something close.

…! Yeah. He's a big wolf. Something with lots of huge fangs.

… Okay, so maybe a small one with lots of fangs. Hideo wasn't as tall as most boys. Poor kid, he was only about four inches above Sakura.

(Sakura is only about 5'5. I'm 5'6. I wanted to be taller… but I stopped growing.)

_Someone_ is even shorter, though. A certain boy with green eyes was my height.

For a boy around this school, that's _bad_. As in, 'get beat up because you're wimpy' bad. Yes, indeed, Kazuki is pretty puny.

I decided, just before the raucous bell rang, that I'd confront him on the way out of school.

Anko rushed us out. Neither Kazuki and I understood why, but she basically push us out and we didn't even get to say goodbye to Hideo and Sakura.

I hurried to catch up with Kazuki.

(I didn't notice Anko walk out and lock the door- minus two students).

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

It's my break. And today, I'm not going to eat lunch.

Stalking along the road with silent steps, I'm glad all of Kakashi's ridiculous coaching paid off. I still run. The track is too short, so sometimes I'll manage to keep up with Hideo as he darts around on the rooftops.

That kid is something special. But I worry- he can be too vicious sometimes. Sure, he is indeed a very kind person (sometimes), but the streak of bestial instinct is a little uncomfortable.

So is his sister. She's very special. And I love her very much.

But today is not the day to reflect on happy things.

(It's really not.)

I'm going to seek out Sasuke. It's my responsibility to look after my foolish brother- I'm his legal guardian now. He may not even know that, though.

I arrive in front of the dark building where he lives. I'm not even sure he goes to school anymore. Walking up the steps (They had weeds growing through the cracks), I tried the doorknob.

Locked. Classic younger brother. Frowning, I pulled a lock-pick out of my pocket. Indeed, Kakashi's training was not as crazy as I thought.

As I picked the lock, I glanced around. Even if I'm not doing anything bad (I'm his freaking brother), it's still better to tread quietly. I hate a fuss.

The door clicks, and I push it open.

It's dark inside. I'm not surprised. No, it's the other things (small details, really) that disturb me.

The paint is peeling. The floorboards are worn and dusty. There's a hole in the wall (a fist).

A slash mark on the wall.

A bullet hole through the floor.

Lastly, the shining object on the table catches my eye.

No.

It can't be.

He wouldn't sink that low, would he?

I'm not that much of a failure as a brother?

Am I?

Stray sunlight streams through the window, hitting the silver emblem on a bloody, battered collection of collars. Collars with no owners in sight.

"Get the hell out of my house, Itachi."

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

I am thankful to Anko. She let me stay. Aunt Tsunade will be furious.

'_How could you do that, Sakura? They'd want you to have your space, too.'_

No. _I _didn't want my space. If I pretend it never happened, it didn't. Please gods, it didn't happen.

I never told my parents I loved them since I was eight. _Eight_.

Kikyo's in front of me today. Kazuki is next to her, and Hideo is…?

Is he _asleep_? Man, if Anko sees…

I scrutinize his lack of movement. It's strange, he doesn't even seem to be breathing… I reach out, hoping to wake him before Anko does see and kill him.

I give his arm a shake.

…

…

…

Nothing. Nothing at all.

His back doesn't rise and fall. He's not breathing.

Just as I go to tell Anko (or scream), something really cold brushes my shoulder.

My hair whips around as I turn.

There he is. But… He's barely there.

Why is he so serious? Is he dead, too?!

(What is GOING ON?!)

My head screaming a dozen different questions, thoughts, and actions, I watch him sit on his desk next to himself.

(THIS MAKES NO SENSE!)

I can see the window through him.

In a sudden, brainless movement, I reach over and try to get a pulse on his neck.

Nothing, again.

I look up at the other him- the transparent one.

(THIS IS TOO FREAKING WEIRD I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW! NOT AFTER this…)

He sighs. I don't think he is sure what it was either. I turn and try to focus on what Anko is saying.

Hmmm… geometry? We already know this. Maybe…!

I look at Hideo from the corner of my eye. Anko… does she know? Is that why she's teaching something we already know?

She smiles at me and I feel a faint chill. I fidget and twitch the whole time.

He seems calm enough. But, I'm not a heroine from a fantasy book. I'm Sakura Haruno (orphan_orphan_orphan- no). I feel like running out the window, screaming, or something along those lines. But somehow I don't think the transparent Hideo would be too happy about that. I don't know how to react when my friend (is he my friend?) literally separates his body and spirit.

Wait. Let's call it consciousness. Spirit sounds weird, like he's dead or something.

He's not dead, is he?

(I don't want to deal with that again.)

I don't know. I don't want to know why I told _Hideo_ of all people. He's the most likely to do something stupid because instinct told him so. He's the one that I kicked in the shin. He's the one who looks _just like_ the **other** _him_.

Sasuke.

Sasuke.

'_Why did you do this, Sasuke?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?'_

Sasuke.

'… _You're so __**annoying**__.'_

That's right. I'm _so __**freaking**_ annoying, Sasuke can't stand the sight of me.

But that's Sasuke. Not Hideo. I guess I was wrong. He's considerate, that's for sure.

He didn't pull away and make me cry. Not like Sasuke did. And now, he's sitting on his desk and making faces at Anko childishly. I guess that means she can't see him.

"… Well, that's the end of that. The bell's gonna ring soon, get your crap packed," Classic Anko. She's not cutting any slack for anybody.

I like Anko. Like Hideo, she doesn't try to comfort me like other people. She gives me support- just no fluffy words.

Hideo is still immobile. I slowly put my books away, taking with me only the ones I'd need for homework.

When I looked up, Anko was striding out the door.

"Get out when you need to." She says, and the door clicks when she's out.

She locked me in.

No, she locked _us _in.

I'm going to kill her.

…

…

…

Hideo's consciousness/whatever growls.

…Ditto.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

I still don't have a name. I'm sorry. You forgive me?

I don't know if Hideo's gonna go still again. After all, all the other times it's been someone very close. He never even talked to Sakura until now.

But there's something that is forming between them already. I can't tell what it is.

A friendship?

Maybe even a rivalry?

…Or something else?

Whatever it was, I have noticed that his focus is rather tight. When he studies something, it almost burns- he's gotten even more intense. Once in a while, I can feel his laser gaze on my back. He's annoyed that I'm not telling him anything.

The cut on my face stings. His crimson eyes are boring holes in my back.

All of a sudden, it's gone. He's moved on to something else. I'm willing myself to not look at Kikyo. She's curious, and a little angry at me.

The cut is getting sore.

… Infected. Maybe I'd contract a disease and die.

I can see the headline. Or lack thereof.

You may notice my notes in the margins, but please disregard. I just write notes because it's required.

I look down at my desk. It's very blank. In fact, compared to the other desks, it's like nobody sat there at all.

Anyway, I must go. Anko is rushing us out.

… She's going to follow me. I won't avoid Her. I deserve Her scorn.

Just don't ask why, Kikyo.

Just don't ask why.

* * *

_-{[( Guest: Kakashi )]}-_

Kakashi Hatake. He's a schoolteacher in a high school. He's married to Anko Mitarashi. He's in love with Anko Mitarashi.

That makes him crazy already. We're not done yet, too.

His childhood has run away screaming and blood running from its lips. His adult life calmly watches it run, holding bits of scorched paper and a necklace.

Sometimes, he'll look out the window and remember the four kids he taught.

He taught them how to survive. He taught them how to love, how to cry, and how to live in this world.

He'd even taught them to kill. He'd taught them anger.

His only redemption, he thought, was telling them about the simple beauty of life. Now it was Anko's turn.

She'd do a good job. She was confident, and strong. Kakashi was too- but his strength was in the superglue that held his pieces together. His confidence was the lies he'd told himself.

When it faltered, he told himself he hadn't ruined their life.

He felt like he'd used them. It had been their choice, but they were so very young and impressionable.

Yes, it was their choice. That's what he told himself.

The little girl with the bell-voice haunted him.

_The sky won't cry anymore when the war ends. We trust you._

The loud boy who had madness in his eyes followed in his shadow.

_I'm not smirking because you made the wrong decision. We trust you._

The equally (if not more) loud girl with a barbed tongue- she clawed his dreams at night.

_Aww, shut up. You're such a spaz. We trust ya._

Lastly, the mirror that he'd failed to save. The boy in a man's place, who cast a long shadow on Kakashi as he walked ahead.

_It's imperative that we help as a team. We trust you._

_We trust you. We speak as one._

_We will help you._

_We will help your shadows- and your light._

Anko told him to be at peace.

Peace was never an option, was it?

It was a goal.

* * *

A man strolls down the center of a camp. It is dead silent.

He's heading for a house where a woman is dying. He doesn't know her, but the messenger did.

The messenger was stricken.

He walks up to one of the tan tents and slips inside.

A woman, heaving on the small sleeping bag, is crying. The salt of her tears makes her cry more.

It's no use! I'm going to die. Why is the doctor here? Doesn't he have better things to do?! Roku?!

The messenger is at a loss for words as his sister yells at him. His sandy blonde hair is sticking up at the blood, blood everywhere…

I'll see what I can do, okay? What happened?

It was THE FREAKING GRENADE! She screams in agony, and her young brother scurries over to lift the blanket off her lower body.

Her legs are gone. The blood is still oozing everywhere, even through the thick bandages that were tied on the remains of her thighs.

The light fades in her eyes every second.

The doctor chokes on his own bile. This fiery young woman, only about his own tender age of twenty, was going to die.

She was _**going to die**_**. **And he couldn't do anything about it.

What did I tell you? Go away, Rayn. You're no use here.

His eyes widen. That voice…

Through the pain lacing her voice, and her brother he didn't know she had, and the blood everywhere, and the dirt all over her face, and her hair burnt off by unmerciful flames…

He didn't even recognize her. It was _her_.

R-Riyu? Is that you?

She coughs up a fair amount of blood. He's paralyzed.

No, dipstick. It's someone else. Someone else is going to die today, in this freaking war.

Oh god… Riyu… you- you went out by yourself…

No.

The tears make it hard to see, but he looks at her bloodstained face. She smiles, ash crumbling off her cheek as she does so.

I saved myself. I don't have to… I don't ha… hav…

That day, a rebel grenade destroyed a group of soldiers.

{Blame Love, moron}

It was a suicide run.


	7. The Clueless and a Pretty Rainbow

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-7-

-

-

-

_When one does not know of themselves, it is hard to fathom the feelings of others. _

_Such is a case that has killed._

_Love is wasted on one who cannot find himself- she made that mistake._

_She shall pay. Not in Hell's infernal wrath, mind you, but from afar. In the human world._

_He's still there._

_(_He's _still there too.)_

_It's a torturous game of so close, yet so far._

_Her love is so close, yet also far._

_She remembers. His awkward way of speaking, his twitchy habits that earned his fateful injury that changed her own life in ways not told._

_Not told to him, anyway. But she had screamed it to the unforgiving night sky over and over again. The sky remained mute. _

_She'd curse and flounce away to her own tent. The next day in battle, she'd be aggressive and he'd tell her to calm down, Riyu. You'll hurt yourself._

_(He was an unknowing hypocrite.)_

_Now, all she could do is follow the Girl to camp._

_The white-haired man followed her while she was following the Girl._

_Riyu had watched him enough to see a stabbing pain in his violet eyes. A constant migraine; a sickly agony from the core of his grey soul._

_Midori was his name. When he looked at her, he looked slightly sick._

_Fine. _

_If that's how it was gonna be, fine, Riyu thought._

_She thought of the few that she knew. The people that remained._

_Rayn. He's her first thought, always._

_Herself. Dead and bitter._

_Midori. Also dead, but plagued by a deep, dark depression._

_Roku. He was definitely alive, but without his sister, light fled from his sky._

_The night was coming. There was nothing they could do but watch and hope that the war would end._

_For Riyu, the war ended a while ago._

_It ended with a flash of light and blood._

_Beautiful._

_Haunting._

_Solemn._

_

* * *

  
_

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

You know what? If I have to, I'll freaking sleep here. It's better than crying in my room, alone.

… Then again, there IS Hideo to deal with. He's pacing now (well, as much as you can pace when you're transparent and the room is only fifteen feet by twelve feet), and his arm is getting cold.

I checked behind his back.

I look at my hands. I don't have the energy to even be concerned. It's too much thought. I don't want to think. The memories will hurt; I'm not ready to feel pain anymore.

I'm just numb now. No feeling, no pain.

Yet, every time I look up and see him pacing, I start to lose my comfortable numbness.

_I remember now. I loved them, they loved me._

_I was their daughter._

_I betrayed them. They betrayed me._

_It was revenge. I took revenge on them for leaving me, and then the world took them away to show me how I__'__d sinned._

Hideo suddenly halts, foot still in mid-step. His stoplight red eyes widened. His ghostly form flickered and blinked like a candle sputtering out.

His body twitched. A gloved finger pressed down on the desk. The rest of his muscles responded, jerkily lifting himself off the freezing tan surface.

The last thing he does is open his eyes.

Still stop-light red. That's what they are. A stoplight. I once knew two brothers that had crimson eyes, too.

But their eyes were the color of fresh blood.

Hideo's not moving much. His back is stiff as a board, and he is cursing under his breath in several different languages.

Language is a funny thing; if you're not bilingual, you may know how to cuss in several languages anyway. Shows what society has come to these days.

In a pained and breathless voice, he spits out a ,"_Kuso_…" It's Japanese. Never mind what it means.

"You okay?" I ask. My voice is pathetic, and I disgust myself. He notices my frustration, and he's confused. I can see it in his eyes.

They dilate.

After a moment of silence and uncomfortable eye contact, he lifts himself out of his desk. Something cracks painfully. And something else.

When he's finally up, he winces and stretches upwards and even a little backwards.

A whole series of creaks and painful- sounding pops follow the movement.

Right about now, I realize that he's bending backwards more than usual. It's a common fact that girls are more flexible than boys, right?

I would _never_ bend that far without thinking. And here he is- a fifteen year old who is definitely a _male_- defying the rules. Again.

He seems to do that. Defy rules. Maybe it's a hobby.

I clear my throat, "Are you double-jointed or something?"

He straightens and scrutinizes me thoughtfully.

"Maybe. Not visibly." He replies calmly. His voice is less painful now, and back to its normal level of smooth boyishness.

"Then how on Earth did you just bend back that far?"

"… Anko."

It was the only answer I needed. Heck, that's all anyone needed to know. Maybe she dislocated every joint in his body or something.

We were silent again for a while. He was standing, I was sitting sideways in my desk's chair. It was peaceful.

I could immerse myself in the tiny room's presence. My own presence.

Hideo's presence. That too; he was calm too. But his calmness was ingrained. I had to find mine. It was a center of balance.

I focused on each body of peaceful thought, one by one.

The room: It was inanimate, but it had life. The walls with peeling paint that Anko's voice had made flee from the very surface it was painted on. The scuffed, dirty floor. Lastly, the four desks.

Oh, the desks. They were alive, too. They saw us and drank in the contentment. The ripped one gave a low grumble of agreement. My desk closed its eyes and basked in the cool warmness. The clouds-plane desk- Hideo's sister's old desk- was singing. It knew the flow and rhythm of the universe, maybe.

I liked to think so.

The blank desk, you may ask. Did you forget it, Sakura? It's still there.

Yes, it was there too. But it fed off the other desks for its peace.

Second, me: I had come to terms with myself. Some people say that everything happens for a reason. That's bull, I say. Some things just happen. For instance, the plane crashed because a system failed. Nothing more. Nothing less.

My parents were dead. I remain.

I'll see what I think about that later.

Hideo: I don't know what he was thinking. I never will, probably. His spiky head kept it thoughts for its spiky self.

But the softness in his contrastingly sharp appearance told me what I needed. Stop-sign eyes were dulled; sharp, tanned features relaxed; even his midnight hair looked less pitch black than usual. It had dark, dark brown in it when it was in light.

But you had to look. If you don't really look at Hideo Shinigami, you get nothing. You won't have a clue what he's thinking or feeling. He's a big blank for you until you take the time to scratch off the thick, dark covering.

I only just started.

He lifts his head, breaking the moment. He looks at me mischievously, eyes twinkling.

"Let's get the hell outta here."

A few minutes later, the door swung open due to the death-cold hands of a teenager with way too much knowledge and too little common sense.

The door didn't stand a chance.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

She caught up to me when I tried to escape. Grabbing the back of the collar of my shirt, She was not going to let me go without some kind of passable excuse.

"Hey. You're not going _nowhere_." She starts dragging me by the scruff of my neck away from the school.

Oh, Lord. If I'm late, Yukio's gonna wonder where I am and if I'm _way _late?

If I'm way late, I'm going to be killed.

"K-k-kikyo! Wha-" I stutter as I'm lugged along the sidewalk. People are looking at us funny. It's no wonder. It is odd, a girl single-handedly dragging a boy (who is resisting) along the road when he should be at least twenty pounds heavier than her.

Error in their logic already: I'm probably not twenty pounds heavier than Her. She may even be heavier than I am if I'm on a bad week.

Well… maybe if I'd ever attempted to do any physical activity, I'd be able to escape. But alas, She is stronger and faster than me.

Life sucks. I stop dragging my feet and follow obediently. She looks smug.

I sigh. I feel depressed.

She stops at a decrepit old place. It is squeezed between two equally grungy houses that are slightly larger.

Fumbling with the keys, Kikyo She chooses the rusty key and unlocks the door, yanking out the key when She's done. She actually has to put Her foot on the door as leverage.

I moved directly behind Her in case She fell off the steps.

"Freakin' key…" She mutters darkly under Her breath. I can't help it. I suppress my laughter by coughing.

Not good enough. She mock-glares and marches inside, dragging me with Her.

Even the interior smells old, looks old, probably is old. I wonder why She'd live in a place like this.

For some screwed-up reason, I liked it. It was better than home, with its smells of pain and hatred. I guess I'm just clueless.

She goes off, darting around in a very disorganized, frustrated manner. Eventually she comes from upstairs (when did she get up there?) with a bag in her hand. Grabbing my arm, she forcibly shoves me into a rickety kitchen chair and glares at me.

"Gonna tell me where you got this and this?" She jabs a finger at the cut and the black eye to punctuate her words.

I look up, eyes widened innocently. My bangs are hanging in my face haphazardly. It was annoying, but… I always win.

She's losing.

She loses. Sighing angrily, She grabs Neosporin® and fixes up the cut on my face while I sit and wrinkle my nose at the smell and the fact that She's messing up my hair even more than it already was.

Which was a lot.

When She's done, She notices the writing on my arm. Glad that nothing too secret is on the visible part- my hand- I quickly shove my pen in my pocket.

Be back in a second.

…

She just asked me, "Do you write all the time? I mean, you write _without looking_."

I had nodded. She looked miffed. I laughed, and She frowned at the scrawl on my hand (It was branching out on my fingers now. I really needed to be able to sit and write in my book. Which is you.).

"You never mention my name, dummy. I do have one. It's Kikyo," She says and adds, "Don't wear it out."

Still half- laughing, I agreed to refer to Her by name more often. I guess I'll stop capitalizing, too… I feel bad. It made her special.

She is special. I'm not writing on my hand anymore, by the way. This is later, at home before Father gets home.

Anyway, I had started on the homework with **Kikyo** (don't wear it out) until I knew I had to get home or else.

Even though I can hear Father's heavy footsteps on the gravel, I'm still absurdly happy.

I took off the bandage on my face.

It'd just make things worse.

…I'm still happy.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

Itachi hasn't called me

He must be talking to

Sasuke

But I'm worried

That he will let his emotions get

In the way

of course, I

am on my way

to the camp

and it's surprisingly easy to

slip along unnoticed

through the sparse

amount of people who still walk the streets

with their drab clothing

and bad memories

hanging above their heads

laughing

at human folly

but that's enough

for I have arrived at my

destination

the gritty pavement

with scraggly weeds and peeling paint jobs

and the bigbigbig warehouse with broken windows

I walk down the secret steps

down into the hushed silence of the dark

dank basement

the tents glow with lights

from inside

I call out

"Rayn?"

but there is no answer

I know why

it's Riyu

she joined Midori and the others

just a few days ago

and Rayn didn't know what he felt

and now he's confused and sad depressed

I find him in the med tent

he's hunched over with his head in his hands

fingers knotted in raven hair

his eyes must be open

cat yellow staring at his palms

he doesn't even look up

though he heard my footsteps

"Rayn? She's here."

Golden eyes bore into mine as his head snaps up

Dry tears decorate his face

And I smile sadly as I remember his claim that he'd never cry again

"Liar. You cry. To do so is only human, Rayn."

"What is it, Shiro? Why are you here? You don't… don't… why are you here?"

"She's here. She wants to talk to you."

His eye go wide

And he stands

And she's standing next to me

And she's shocked at his bedraggled appearance

But I am not

For the uncle told me that love makes a man look haggard

Quoth Shakespeare

"Riyu? So… so you…"

I put my hand on his shoulder

Feeling the smooth fabric of his black t-shirt

[for once not professional]

And feel for the dormant power within

Channeling Riyu's shadowy form to him

His pupils dilate

leaving only a sliver of golden yellow

and he reaches for her hand

she steps forward

"Oh god… what you said was true, Shiro… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I doubted you…"

she's smiling

and he's blind to the feelings behind the gesture

because he's _Rayn_

and Rayn is clueless

eternal

but there is a man

in the shadows of the tent

flickering with the candlelight

Rayn tells her he's sorrysorrysorry and she listens and forgives him

(the flicker watcheswaitsdies)

I follow the white ghost

He's stained with blood

But what ?

I choke on bile

It's him

It's Midori

And there is the wounds

That he had

Before he died

Unearthed in ghostly form as

The woman he fell for loves another man who doesn't have a clue

It's a bullet in his chest

And in his temple

And his limbs are bent

At funny angles

All broken

Blood cakes the side of his mouth

And I am assaulted by the truth

'_Once upon a time the broken, staring corpse of a suicide victim in a city near the side of a building was shot in the chest and the head by laughing criminals and that man never, ever forgot.'_

The truth is painful

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

I know why she did this to Sakura, but locking _me_ in here is pointless.

… Maybe she just didn't want to carry me out. I'm still detached. And now I'm antsy. Very, very antsy. So I'm pacing, and poor Sakura is left to stare into space. She looks at her hands, unscarred by labor but still strong.

In a sudden movement, she winces. It's not registered by her mind, but I know that she is thinking.

I can only hope that she is going to a better mental state. However…

She keeps looking up at me and then not.

(The ache is starting)

Wonder… why…

(Now it's going up my spine like a knife)

My eyes widen. I manage to keep silent while the searing pain shoots through my consciousness.

Then- yes. I'm back in my body. I am very, very stiff.

I try to move, lifting myself off the desk. As soon as I move, my joints complain miserably.

Great. I'm stiff as heck. I'm in pain, too.

Cursing in every language I know, I pull myself into a semi-normal sitting position and she's watching me and her eyes are _really_ green.

… Okay, so that was random. Whatever. My throat is so dry, I don't recognize my voice for a second.

"You okay?" Her voice is weak. I think my instinctual confusion showed, because she just stares back blankly. I never answer her question. After all, it's a little pointless- do I _look _okay?

… The answer is no, fool.

After a few seconds of green vs. red staring contest, I attempt to stand. My protesting body goes on strike and my muscles scream in pain.

I decide to stretch backwards to get my spine to function in a quasi-normal way.

I don't notice that I went so far back that my head was only a foot or so above desk height. That is, until Sakura asked if I was double jointed (or something).

I told her I might be but not visibly after standing up and considering my answer a second. She rarely blinks when I make eye contact, unlike most. I appreciate that.

"Then how on Earth did you just bend back that far?" She says, incredulous. I pause a bit. I can only summon up one word that summarizes this completely.

"… Anko."

She's comfortable. I'm curious, I want to know why she's so at ease with me in the room. I won't lie; I know I freak people out a lot. Only people who know me well can be this… this…

How do you describe Sakura right now? Peaceful. Yes, that's right. Perhaps Anko's craziness worked.

(The reflected melancholy in green proves me wrong.)

Great, now I'm worried.

It's laughable. Hideo Shinigami- you know, the kid that routinely gets in fights at school and scares little kids just by looking at them- is worried about Sakura Haruno, a girl who lost her parents and has bubblegum-pink hair and green eyes.

That's kinda absurd. I find sympathy only after stabbing the shell around it for days. I'm scared of sympathy.

So I'll help her run from this. I'm an expert at running.

("Let's get the hell outta here.")

The door swings open, into the darkened hallway.

Expert at running, huh?

She has no clue.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

I grab the back of his shirt as we leave.

"Hey. You're not going _nowhere_." Wow, I sound so ghetto compared to him or Sakura or even Hideo and we all know Hideo is a gangster.

… A future gangster in the least. Pfft, and no, I'm not ridiculous for thinking I know something abut gangsters when I really am quite clueless about the inner workings of such people.

I stroll away from school towards my house. I don't know why, but I don't even care about interrogating him anymore as he struggles.

"K-k-kikyo! Wha-" Oh god… He's stuttering again. A little part of me thinks it's adorable till I spray the thought with MACE and run away from it screaming.

I notice how light he is. It's like dragging air. Does he _eat_?

He stops trying to get away and walks with me like a civilized person. He's still behind me, though. Kazuki has major inferiority complex, I guess.

After a bit of walking and tripping (Kazuki), we get to my apartment of wonder.

Wonder= Crap.

I rummage around for my key and shove it into the rusted keyhole. I feel like Kazuki is watching every movement I make. It's not creepy when it's Kazuki.

Warmth crawls onto my cheeks but by wrestling with my house key I effectively will it away. Cursing under my breath, I eventually yank the key out and kick open the door.

I grab his arm with a little more force than needed and walk inside my veritable rat-hole. As soon as I'm in, I march away and around my house to find my Neosporin® and bandages.

Running up one of the numerous rickety staircases, I pull stuff randomly out of my closet till I find the first-aid Ziplock®. I grimace as I pull out a moth-bitten hat and soon after an old bra of mine.

(I didn't know I still had that…)

When I secured the bag, I trudge back down and into the cramped kitchen.

When I got Kazuki into a chair, I immediately badger him, "Gonna tell me where you got this and this?" Thrusting my finger at both of his wounds.

…Visible wounds. His sleeve is over his arm where I grabbed him earlier- I'm still not sure if he is hurt there too.

I make eye contact and immediately regret it.

…

…

He must be the master of Puppy Dog Eyes. All he has to do is look through his unruly bangs and look… well…

Think of the cutest animal you can think of. That's what it looks like. You get a sugar overdose just seeing him.

SIGH. Getting out the much labored-for Neosporin®, I patched him up and tried not to think about how weirdly soft his hair was.

After the cut was taken care of, I noticed the pen all on his hand.

He's gonna get _ink poisoning_.

"Do you write all the time? I mean, you write _without looking_." I ask him.

I start to read what he was writing. Huh… he was basically summarizing everything that was happening. He puts away his pen, probably for politeness' sake. Then he nods.

Oh, for the love of god, he's laughing at my annoyed- ness… Wait a minute. I just noticed… he doesn't use my name. Ever. I frown at the blotched, almost unintelligible mess on his hand.

"You never mention my name, dummy. I do have one. It's Kikyo," I tell him, then mischievously say, "Don't wear it out."

He's still stifling laughter when he says, "Okay." His voice is very young- sounding. I mean, we are young, but… Kazuki has an air of innocence that I just don't understand.

It's okay. Laughing with him, I grab my homework papers and we laze around doing math and social studies fo a good two hours (Anko gives a _crapload_ of homework) until he quietly got to his feet (we were sitting on the floor for some reason…), thanked me and left.

I watched him walk down the road. He looked like any other teenage boy- baggy, ripped jeans; white long-sleeve shirt under a black tee- but the way he jumped at little things and looking at the sidewalk nervously thing...

There was a bounce in his step today, though.

I smiled like an idiot all night.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

He emerges from the shadows naturally, like oil. Slippery.

It's undoubtedly him. Sasuke. My brother.

"Didn't you hear me? Get _out_, Itachi." He repeats, as if it will have an effect on me. His voice has adopted a bit of the sickly sweet drawl that snake, Orochimaru, has.

That man was a disease. A virus- and my brother had caught it.

My poor, shattered, _foolish_ younger brother.

"That's no way to greet me, foolish little brother."

His bloody eyes narrow.

"I don't need to greet you. Get out or I'll be forced to kill you." His voice goes blank, without the slightly mad undertone.

I know he'll do it, too. At this point, he must have at least a switchblade on him- maybe even a pistol.

I make an inventory of the weapons on my person.

- A small Leatherman®.

- A few throwing needles in my suitcase.

- A poison capsule.

But most of all, I had myself. And I was the greatest weapon in this room. Sighing and closing my eyes, I prepared for his attack.

His body tenses. Here he comes.

I automatically duck as a bullet goes flying over my head. Rolling to the side and launching myself at my smaller brother, I took him by surprise and snatched the small gun from his hands.

He looks down the barrel of the gun. Sasuke is sweating. If I fired, the bullet would be dead-center in his face.

I never miss. Ever.

I lower the gun and stuff in into my belt after emptying it of bullets. I turned and walked to the shadowed door.

"I will take my leave. You have told me everything I needed to know, Sasuke."

His red eyes bore unblinking into my back.

"… That girl."

The eyes narrow in malice.

"She loved you. She would have died for you- and I am ashamed by your weakness."

He's suffocating as he spits, "_She_ was weak. Love?" He scoffs, "I have no need for such idiocy. _That_ is true weakness."

Both my mind and my suit are still immaculate.

His logic always was as bad as his aim.

Foolish younger brother.

* * *

_Old couples titter as two children, a girl and a small boy, laugh and splash in the puddles after a rainy day._

_The little girl, no more than six or so, is clean and wears a nice raincoat._

_The scrawny boy? He was smeared with mud and had no coat at all._

_(he was shivering)_

_Eww! Now I'm all wet, Kazu!_

_So am I! Hey, look…_

_He points to the horizon. A beautiful rainbow adorns the grey sky._

_Oh! A rainbow…_

_It's pretty…_

_The two innocents jump on a bench to sit and watch the rainbow._

_The old couples smile._

_I want to be as pretty as a rainbow someday!_

_The little girl waves her arms in a self-important gestures._

_Green-grey eyes watch her with a peculiar light within._

_He laughs again and shakes his head, messy dark hair plastered to his head by water._

_She looks at him, startled._

_He speaks his thought, a small, childish blush dying his cheeks pink._

_Nah, Kikyo… you don't have to wish for that._

_She cocks her head sideways, violet eyes wide._

_He smiles brightly._

_You already are pretty like the rainbow, Kikyo…_

_His words haunt a teenage girl years later on a train._

_She looks out the window and wonders if she'll ever see a rainbow again._


	8. This Morning and a Good Day for a Fight

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-8-

-

-

-

_It is now._

_The time is coming- look, the horizon. You can see it through the dark._

_Suddenly, their shadows are grey. The nightmares drift from a girl's heart!_

_She hardly knows. She disbelieves- most would, it has only been a few days. Could it be that someone walks beside her? An unwanted, needy teenage girl?_

_Run, boy. Run away. She'll follow; let her do so._

_But he'll run. Bolt, like a scared animal. His eyes are haunted._

_Hunted. The shell grows back easily. Be careful, little girl. Porcelain breaks easily and must be handed with care. He is such an object: Solid and independent on the surface; breakable and cracked inside._

_She's cracked herself. Unlike him, she knows and protects her fragile heart. It finds its wings only when she dreams her faceless dreams for a future when she is no longer hurt._

_A remedy? No, a painkiller. Temporary. Fleeting._

_He knows fleeting. The last breath of a saint._

_The pant of the hunted._

_The scurry of the unwanted._

_The drip of blood._

_The flash of a grenade._

_The bite of a harsh word._

_He knows it all. And he'll do anything to protect his friends from it._

_

* * *

  
_

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

Mornings suck. I hate mornings. That's why I always say, 'hi' instead of 'good morning'. Rolling out of bed, I reflect on how crappy school was.

I mean, not because of the company. I love my class and my insane teacher. It's just… brain work. Eew.

Throwing on a black tee and some old blue jeans, I am struck by a funny feeling in my stomach.

Okay, so imagine that you're just randomly thinking and all of a sudden you get this sick butterfly feeling in the pit of your stomach. That's what happened. It shivered up into my throat. I frowned and shrugged. Whatever.

Grabbing my exponentially more neat bag (Kazuki helped me with it- he's very neat, you know. Almost OCD, the crazy boy.), I marched out the door with a waffle in my hand an a smile on my face.

When I reached our usual morning place, I was surprised to see only Sakura. She looked really frantic.

"Saku- wait, what's going on in this here place? Aren't the boys usually-" I said, but she cuts me off, "He ran."

"What?" I ask, puzzled as hell.

She looked up at me with shining eyes, "I… I got here, and it was just Hideo. He just saw me, ran up and… he said, 'If you're here and he's not, I have to go get him. Hold this,' and… gave me this," she held up a mass of scratched leather. My eyes widened. That was…

"That's… his trench coat… Wait, do you think he meant Kazuki when he said 'he'?"

Sakura nodded vigorously, wiping tears off her face (she looks frustrated) and says, 'I'm worried. I want… I want to make sure they are okay."

Okay, this keeps getting more and more confusing. I ask her why she's so worried about them- Kazuki was late so Hideo went to go get him. So what?

"No… wait. I'll go after them. I'm sure they're fine. I'm just… antsy. Yeah." She smiles brightly and runs off across the lot.

I dash inside. If she was leaving, I was going to tell Anko. Anko would know what to do.

The hallway is deserted- the bell hasn't rung yet, but it will. I think over the past two minutes.

Her smile was fake. Sakura hadn't left Hideo's coat here, which is not logical because it is probably heavy because it's leather and… My brain is exploding. Help. I need some sane help.

Well, I think as Anko comes into sight, not sane help. Just help.

"ANKO!" I yell, almost running into the lockers next to her. She looks slightly amused, but it changes when she sees my face.

"What's wrong?" She asks, tensing like she was ready to jump into action.

"It's Sakura. She said that Hideo was here when she got here but Kazuki wasn't and he went after Kazuki and now she went after him who went after Kazuki," I say, all in one breath. A pause and add, "I came to tell you because she looked really worried and freaked so..."

Her frown deepened, "The boys… Here, let's go, Windy Girl. I gave you a track lesson yesterday?"

I fidget, "Yes."

Anko smiles, "Well, you're going to need it to keep up with me."

She takes off in a whirlwind of purple hair and grey-brown eyes.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

Last night, I returned home to no Shiro. This made me anxious until I saw her note:

''I went to the place. I'll probably stay the night. Sorry! Don't worry, you won't have to cook because I left dinner in the fridge. Hideo will be home- probably. He'll take care of himself.

Love, Shiro

You can always count on her to be spontaneous. You can also rely on her to make me worried. Then again, she can take care of herself. She went to comfort Rayn.

I think she knew before this morning, but we got the news that Riyu Ikimono blew herself up in a surprise attack on the enemy. Suicide. I had been shocked. We had worked with Riyu and Rayn for years, and now… she'd gone and killed herself.

Riyu had been strong. She was the type to do anything for the advancement of our organization. We had great respect for her. But even she, who stood strong through all combat, bombs, and yelling matches, had been felled by the ultimate depression:

She'd loved Rayn. Her downfall was that she chose to fall for a man who had no clue about social interaction.

After the accident, he'd never been quite the same. Let me explain; Rayn was a brilliant doctor and fighter, about two years ago, at the age of nineteen. But one day on the field, he'd fallen off a high cliff. The numerous fractures and cuts inflicted upon him weren't the worst, however.

He'd lost his memory. Riyu, his best friend, had been devastated. She'd helped him through his rehabilitation. He had only opened up to her promising never to cry again.

Rayn removed his emotions.

Now, he was paying the ultimate price: Not death, but the death of the one closest to him. The only one who he could show his heart to. So now Shiro had gone to show him the best she could the extent of which Riyu had cared for him.

I had confidence that she could save Rayn from a lot of confusion and pain. After all, Shiro was the one who had saved me when Sasuke and I lost our parents.

Just a little blue-haired girl with an umbrella on the sidewalk, then. Now? Now she is a radiant young woman whom I cherish.

This morning is cold. I notice the clock, which is… an hour from my first class. Sighing, I get dressed and walk outside. It's a cold, yet clear morning. Everything seems to be outlined in the crisp air.

However, before I could go anywhere, a girl runs up to me in a flurry.

A feeling of dread opens in my stomach when I see that it's her. Sakura. The girl that my brother had… befriended.

(Who am I kidding? More like bewitched.)

Her light green eyes are pleading, "Itachi! Uh, hi. Do you… do you know where Kazuki Inahara lives?"

Kazuki? What could she possibly want with Kazuki in the morning? He was probably at school already.

"Why?"

She is panicked but pauses to say, "He wasn't at school this morning so Hideo went to get him but he was worried, I could tell, so I decided to follow him. But I don't know where he went so… I thought you might know, because you're Hideo's sister's boyfriend and all…" She said, wildly gesticulating with her arms.

I would be amused if this wasn't about Kazuki. Kazuki worried both Shiro and myself. I closed my eyes for a moment and looked Sakura in the eye.

"On the cliffs. Old house, number three. Run."

She is confused- I am deadly serious. Then, something clicks into her mind and she bolts in the direction of the cliffs that tower above the sea right outside of town.

Our sea is grey and trashed.

I walk to class. I'm late for the first time ever.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless

My body aches. I can't even move, let alone go to school. I'll just have to skip. Oh, god, Hideo is going to come after me. I'm never absent. It isn't usually this bad.

I have been ignoring the pain in my leg so long that I can't feel it anymore.

Gosh, Nameless, I can't stand it anymore. I just hate being here. But… I have to survive. For The Shinigamis, Sakura, Anko, and… and…

Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo. Kikyo.

It's ridiculous. I'm ridiculous. Just writing her name makes me feel better. It's like she's there.

I'll almost be glad if Hideo comes here. How will I explain this?

Yes, I'm broken, bleeding, and beat up because I fell down the stairs.

This is Hideo we are talking about. He's not going to buy it. Maybe I can run away, live with him and Shiro. They're like my family anyway.

… I can't leave Yukio. I hate him, but he's still my brother. He'd never live with the Shinigamis, though. Hideo hates his refried guts.

I'm sorry, Nameless. But I just realized that I never told you why I'm like this. Maybe, if I get killed someday somebody will find you.

I'm a OUT64. We are a mutation that is common- an anomaly in our blood type. It makes us… different. Eventually, if you were a OUT64, you were shunned. Now, if you're a OUT64, you get branded with a collar and marked down on an official list. If you commit a crime, your punishment is death. If a non-OUT64 patient needs an organ transplant, you get harvested immediately. You can't marry a non- OUT64. Children are taught to hate you for no reason.

Our society is designed to segregate OUT64s and normal people. It doesn't work sometimes, though, like my case.

My father didn't like it. He's not an OUT64 like me. Neither is my identical twin, Yukio. In fact, Yukio even dyed his hair white and dyed his white streak black, just to be the complete opposite of me. The oddball. The unwanted one.

Not that Father cares when he's drunk. He beats both of us. But he hurts me more because… because I'm the one that Mom died for.

She died for me, a flawed mutation. Father never got over that fact.

Wait. I hear something outside my window. It's Hideo's voice, agitated and snappy. A girl's voice replies. His voice goes quieter and softer.

That's not Shiro's voice. It sounds like… Sakura. Sakura and Hideo are outside. And now?

Now Hideo is going to climb into my window and scare THE EVERLIVING CRAP OUT OF ME.

"Hey," he says. I'm going to throw you at him, Nameless. Sorry, but I really need to. Bye.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

This morning, I got to school and went cautiously to the boys' meeting place. Shouldering my bag, I trudged through the couples and the throng of teenagers towards the old building. It was silent, and I wasn't surprised. Hideo and Kazuki didn't talk in the morning. I guess they were too tired or something.

I was definitely NOT expecting Hideo to be ALONE. He and Kazuki were virtually inseparable. It just wasn't normal. Walking up to him, my brow furrowed.

Now, it's not like I know him that well, but he was really, really tense. And with Hideo, 'tense' transforms very quickly into '_in_tense'. That's what he was like. When he looked up and saw me, I was pretty sure that I'd spontaneously combust. It was quasi-embarrassing, and a little upsetting.

"Um, hi. Wha-" I started, but in a flash he was in front of me (at a safe distance, thank god) and spoke in a grave voice.

"If you're here and he's not, I have to go get him. Hold this," He took off his coat and held it out. I was confused. I've never even seen him without the trench coat, but I let him give it to me. It was heavy. Then, he started off, but I called out to him.

"Wait! Do you mean… Kazuki?"

He turned and looked at me with sad stop-light red eyes, "Sakura, can I trust you?"

I nodded dumbly. There was nothing else to do.

He turned back towards me. I could see the rest of our school on the lot below the hill as he said, "I don't think… I don't think Kazuki has ever been safe. I can't- I've tried to get something out of him, but he won't tell me what happens to him at home. The police can't get involved. They won't help him."

"Why not! It's their job! If you… if what you're saying is what I think, _you _might get injured trying to help him. Then you won't be helping him at all." I said, before realizing a key fact that made my argument null.

Kazuki was a collar. He had no real rights. If he was being abused, the government would turn a cold shoulder.

Hideo just looked at me with his forlorn expression. I couldn't take it anymore. I broke eye contact and stared at the ground. I was wearing black and white Converses today. My shoes are very interesting.

The next time I glanced up, he was gone. My fingers tightened around the battered black leather.

When Kikyo got to the clearing, the coat was still warm. It was like the warmth that he didn't have was in the leather, if I'm making any kind of sense at all right now.

My feet itched. I wanted to run after him. It had only been a minute or so.

The amethyst-eyed girl walked up, "Saku- wait, what's going on in this here place? Aren't the boys usually-"

I knew it was rude to interrupt her, but I was too frazzled to think properly, "He ran." Wow, that was dumb. I probably just confused the crap out of her.

"What?" Yeah. I did. But right now? I was fighting the stupid burning sensation in my eyes. Why was I such a crybaby? I looked up at Kikyo and said, "I… I got here, and it was just Hideo. He just saw me, ran up and… he said, 'If you're here and he's not, I have to go get him. Hold this,' and… gave me this," I held up Hideo's coat and her eyes widened a bit. After only a second, I lowered my arm. Leather is heavy.

(It was also my only comfort. What if whatever person who hurt Kazuki was still there? And armed? They could both be k-ki-)

"That's… his trench coat… Wait, do you think he meant Kazuki when he said 'he'?" Kikyo's voice snapped me out of my horrible musings and suddenly something snapped into place in my brain.

I'm not going to tell Kikyo about Kazuki's issues. She'd freak. I think she likes him too much.

"I'm worried. I want… I want to make sure they are okay. No… wait. I'll go after them. I'm sure they're fine. I'm just… antsy. Yeah." I say.

I will. I'm going after stop-light boy. Something snaps again in my chest and laughs maniacally. It scares me. I throw in a fake smile just for good measure and bolt across the lot in the direction Hideo went in.

I've never run so fast in my life, but I was scared.

That feeling in my heart, laughing evilly and terrifying.

The fact that Kikyo would see through my lies.

I still had Hideo's coat. I didn't care that it was heavy.

As I was running, I was tempted to wear it so that I wouldn't have to carry it, but it seemed like some kind of blasphemy.

A few blocks later, I gave in and put it on.

(I didn't notice till later that even after I gave it back, I smelled like leather and… whatever the heck Hideo smells like. Soap?)

A few blocks later after that, I nearly ran into someone. My heart leapt into my throat when I saw who it was.

Itachi Uchiha. Wasn't he… Hideo's sister's boyfriend? Yeah. Hideo doesn't like him.

"Itachi! Uh, hi. Do you… do you know where Kazuki Inahara lives?" I ask hurriedly. I NEED TO FIND HID- THEM. Both of them.

He raises an eyebrow, "Why?" Okay, I _so_ do not have time for this.

Deep breath, "He wasn't at school this morning so Hideo went to get him but he was worried, I could tell, so I decided to follow him. But I don't know where he went so… I thought you might know, because you're Hideo's sister's boyfriend and all…" I explain all in one breath. I'm panting wildly, and my body is burning. But I can't stop.

Itachi's handsome face adopts a strange expression that I just don't have time to name, but he says: "On the cliffs. Old house, number three. Run."

I run. And run. The big, windy sea cliffs were home to only about four houses.

My shoes crunch against the gravel and I found Hideo a bit sooner than I thought. I actually ran into him.

Okay, I don't even have time to be embarrassed right now. But if I had, I would have realized that I still had his coat on.

I ended up on my butt on the ground, with him looking down at me in half-surprise, half- annoyance.

"What. Are _you_ doing here?" His voice is sharp as I stand up. I glare at him.

"Well it's not like you inspired any kind of confidence that you'd be okay. I'm not going to sit on my butt and wait."

He's still mad at me. I sigh, "Oh come on, I was worried, okay?"

His eyes lose their prickly look, "Sorry. I just… it's not…" He falters and looks confused at himself (It's actually quite cute).

I raise my eyebrow.

He lets out a gush of annoyed breath, "Safe. Yeah. By the way… You better not wear perfume or something." He jerked his head at me and started to climb up the side of the house like he was not human. He had noticed that I was wearing the coat and I guess he didn't want to smell like a girl. Good thing I don't wear perfume. But… carp, he'd noticed! I must not blush! Crap! Focus…

I was too busy hyperventilating to notice that he was climbing like a… a squirrel. Yeah. They just… go up things without any handholds. That's what he was doing.

What the hell is he, a ninja or something?

He was sitting on the windowsill when a composition book hit him and fell out the window. I caught the small, plain notebook.

It was Kazuki's. I smiled.

I think he'd be alright. Dunno about Hideo's head, though.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

I cannot face him

Midori is beyond my reach

dying and fighting fate

he looks into my eyes

with the blood everywhere everywhere

it's _everywhere_

and in his eyes is the monster inside

screaming and clawing its way free

it wants to hurt kill maim

just like what two fleeing criminals did to Midori's corpse

last night

when Rayn saw him

in the corner

Riyu looked behind her

and she cut off a scream

before it left her lips

out of respect

but I could see that

she didn't know why

Midori was angered so

I told her it was very rare for him to be

like that

Rayn was suddenly worried that it might happen to Riyu

and he would have to see the wounds she had before her death

but I reassured him it wouldn't happen to her

but I felt the guilt as

I slept in my tent that night

and Midori was horrified that

he'd let his feelings show so clearly

(and that he'd scared her)

but this morning

I awoke to a normal Midori and no Riyu

she'd gone to watch over Rayn

and left Midori behind

I gave him a hug and he told me that he felt a little better

but the sadness lingers in his eyes

pretty violet like Kikyo's

(My brother had told me of his group, and I knew that the blue-haired girl was Kikyo)

and I don't know what to do

so when I went aboveground this morning

I asked the sky

but the sky was silent and cold

and I was sad

I need to talk to Itachi

but he's at class

Checking for Midori's presence,

I run home

in the cold air

and hope the

feeling of dread

is just a phantom

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

I think I'm going to go insane. I wouldn't be surprised at all. I mean, I'm freaking out because my best friend is late. And he's never absent. So where is he? I have been pacing, then standing vacantly, and now...… well, actually I'm still standing vacantly. Yeah.

I hear someone approaching. It's Sakura. I know enough to know that I'm most definitely making her uncomfortable.

"Um, hi. Wha-" She says uncertainly, probably confused by the fact that I look like I'm going to explode.

I can't waste time. Kazuki's not here? He's either dead or in trouble. So, I have to run and get to his house. In a fast manner. Very fast. Which means, I need to lose my coat. It's cold, but I don't care.

"If you're here and he's not, I have to go get him. Hold this," I say, and give her the damn thing. She's so confused I have to literally shove it into her hands. I start to skid down the hill when she calls out to me, "Wait! Do you mean… Kazuki?"

I'm only hurting myself when I turn my head. I really want to trust Sakura.

I look into her highlighter green eyes, "Sakura, can I trust you?" She nodded, and I think she was afraid of what I was going to tell her.

That's okay, because I was too.

"I don't think… I don't think Kazuki has ever been safe. I can't- I've tried to get something out of him, but he won't tell me what happens to him at home. The police can't get involved. They won't help him." I say, and my voice is strangely quiet and rushed. She quickly retaliates, "Why not! It's their job! If you… if what you're saying is what I think, _you _might get injured trying to help him. Then you won't be helping him at all."

In a strange, twisted way I'm proud of her. She's forgotten about Kazuki's status as a human being. Mere seconds after, she realizes what she forgot and looks sad. Sakura is the type of person who's whole being reflects what she is feeling, and I see her sag.

After what felt like an eternity, she looks away.

It's one of the first few times that she can't meet my eyes.

I run away. I'm really talented at that, you know. and some people really make me want to bolt.

Buildings, trees, and people rush past me as I dash through town towards the sea cliffs. I keep thinking.

My sister sometimes makes me want to run. When she become misty-eyed and reflects everyone around her. She can see within when she's like that.

Itachi- him too. His presence agitates old wounds that aren't even his fault. From _Sasuke_, that... that… I can't even come up with a term for him. He's vile. I absolutely hate him.

You know what's so wrong about that? They're two of the people that I consider family.

But Sakura… she makes me want to jump off a cliff. Not because I don't like her, though. It's just… there's something about her.

It scares my impulsive side, so I avoid being alone around her.

I reach Kazuki's house in record time before I realize that I went the long way. Cursing, I tug at the collar of my black t-shirt. I'm not sweating, but I'm panting a bit. Pacing yourself is for people who don't think their best friend is being abused.

In the space of time that it took me to fully regain my breath (14.4648830 seconds), someone had followed.

I know this because she crashed into me. Good for me that I'm like hitting a brick wall. Bad for her, but okay for me.

It's SAKURA. She FOLLOWED ME. My eyes narrow. She looks up at me.

"What. Are _you_ doing here?" I bite out. Okay, she is not supposed to be here. If Kazuki's father is still slinking around… She glares up at me, probably thinking that I was overreacting. Overreacting?

I am so not overreacting. I'm not. What, you think I am? Well, I'm not. Really. Holy crap, I'm losing it.

"Well it's not like you inspired any kind of confidence that you'd be okay. I'm not going to sit on my butt and wait." Okay, so at least she has confidence.

No, wait. This is actually dangerous. What if- Okay, not what ifs now. I continue to glare at her, hoping that she'd go back or something.

"Oh come on, I was worried, okay?" She says, standing up and brushing herself off.

I relax a bit. I… need to run away. This is one of those times- she's one of those people I need to run away from. She exudes it.

My mind starts to overheat, "Sorry. I just… it's not…" I just don't have the energy to be mad at her. I'm not even tired. I'm contradicting myself. I'm confused. Then I realize I never finished my sentence. Before I can reply, I realize that she's wearing my coat.

I almost laugh. Actually, I would have if I wasn't worried about Kazuki and my brain hadn't short-circuited.

"Safe. Yeah. By the way… You better not wear perfume or something." I say and dash up the side of the house. I let my head rest as my body takes over and I quickly slither up the wall. I grab the windowsill and hope that it's Kazuki's room.

After I haul myself in, I crouch on the sill. He's there, and he's surprised. He had been writing.

"Hey."

The book comes sailing at my head, hits, and falls out the window.

That hurt, so I guess he's fine.

* * *

_It's a good day for a fight. A scrawny, wild-haired, ten-tear-old boy knows this, and he's ready for it._

_He craves it. It's in his nature. So when he comes across a kid getting beaten up?_

_Only answer: he jumps into the fray and is extremely disappointed when he finds that the bullies aren't worth his fighting prowess._

_They end up running away with their metaphorical tails between their legs while the short, skinny fighter sticks his tongue out at their backs._

_"And don't come back!"_

_He turns to the kid he saved from playground wounds. It's a fragile, small boy with mussed dark hair and frightened grey-green eyes._

_"Hey, you alright?"_

_He gets a hesitant nod. Rolling his bright, defiant eyes, Fighter Boy helped the other kid up and away from the cement wall. His nose was bleeding and he had a black eye._

_"Th-thank you. I…"_

_"Ah, shut up. But what's up with you? You should fight back."_

_The other boy looks lost, and eventually he gets dragged to class by the other kid._

_It was the start of a brotherhood._

_But in the end?_

_In the end, there are two left._

_A fighter and the hunted._

_It was just the start._


	9. Christmas and the Self Inflicted

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-9-

-

-

-

_Hospitals begin and end life._

_They are sterile; a synthetic clean that is no replacement for a mother's smile and gentle words._

_True healing brightens life and re-enforces it, but hospitals mend the body and neglect the mind. Unfortunately, they do save lives quite effectively and leave the clean-up to the home and family._

_If there is no family, it is up to oneself to find where their heart is broken._

_He's in pain. She feels it, somewhere deep inside. They'll make it through- it's needed._

_But the others? _

_Yes, what about them? The soldier running towards the sky with his head in the clouds and the girl who is clutching the ground and digging her own grave. What of them?_

_It's forbidden for the earth and the sky to love one another. It's defying rules untold. Yet, old myths show that it is possible._

_The One knows, watches, and smiles._

_Soon, all will fall into place._

_There are mines beneath your feet, soldier._

_Can you face your own mortality? _

_

* * *

  
_

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Nameless,

I hope you're alright. I'm sorry I threw you at Hideo. I was freaked out and… strangely happy to see him. Yeah, I was glad they came for me so chucked a book at him. Sigh… I wish that Kikyo didn't look so-

Okay, I should not voice that though just in case she's watching me. You see, Kikyo and Anko arrived seconds after Hideo climbed into my room and then they all brought me to the Shinigami's. Shiro had just gotten back from… somewhere. She wouldn't tell us. But now she and Anko were talking in hushed tones in the next room.

Hideo had taken a shower. Understandable, since he'd run all the way to my head. Sakura had too, but Kikyo and Anko had taken Anko's motorcycle (apparently she has one). Sakura had politely refused to take a shower for some reason. Something about not having extra clothes or something… Eh.

So now I'm sitting here with Kikyo and Sakura. It's rather nice. I like their company.

Wait a minute… Hideo's room was the basement.

When I started to crack up, the girls gave me funny looks. But I'm just amused because I know Hideo more than they do. I also know his many quirks.

Hideo 101: He HATES getting his shirt wet. Therefore, when he comes out of the shower, he walks around shirtless until his hair is dry. Don't ask me why.

My guess is that girls or no girls, he just won't care and go downstairs straight past them an give it no thought.

Pfft, this is going to be amusing. What I really wanted to see was their reaction.

A few minutes later, I'm right. It's hilarious. He just walks down the stairs and is near the stairs when he notices that both of the girls either looked ready to faint or murderous (Kikyo was the murderous one).

"Put a shirt on, idiot!" Kikyo yells, eyeing her mug and wondering if she should throw it not. Sakura is just… I don't even know how to describe her face. I can tell you that it's very amusing.

Hideo looks bewildered, "What? Got a problem or something?"

"YES, FOOL!"

He's confused, but he eventually goes downstairs and comes back up with a shirt on. Meanwhile, during the whole episode, I'm laughing hysterically. Sakura's as red as a tomato.

Hideo just looks funny, with his hair all screwed up and stuff. It's still wet. Yup, he's pretty miserable- and to add to it, he looks like a kicked puppy.

He's glaring at me now. I think he's guessed that I'm laughing at him.

Still eyeing me, he remarks casually, "You know, I can make sure you don't get fed."

Ouch. He's mean. To counterattack, I just put on my innocent look and then the girls start yelling at him and telling him he's mean.

Mmm, food. To be specific, Shiro's cooking. Really, she's awesome. I'm jealous. I'm just kind of sitting here, lost in thought. It's the only good kind of lost, I think.

My pleasant lost-ness is broken when Shiro and Anko come back in the room. Shiro looks a bit sad, and Anko looks… like Anko.

"Hey kids. Having fun?" She remarks, looking pointedly at Hideo, who was being sat on by Kikyo and Sakura. He started to say something (Probably 'No') but Kikyo bounced on him and he kept quiet.

"Sure!" Sakura chirped happily while purposely elbowing Hideo in the ribcage, "What's up, Anko?"

Anko nods approvingly, "Good kids. Now, I was wondering… who celebrates Christmas?"

All the she got were blank stares. I don't think any of us do.

"I do…" Okay, maybe except Sakura. But it's to be expected, she lives with respectable people. And Hideo?

Anko looks at the squashed teen, "What about you?"

Squirming a bit to be able to breathe, he answers:

"Um… not usually."

"Why not?" Anko barked.

He winces, "Uh… well," he looks at Shiro, who nods, "First of all, Itachi's an atheist and… I think we're…?"

"Jewish. We're supposed to be Jewish." Shiro supplies helpfully. He mutters, "Yeah… Jewish. But…" He says something to Sakura (who is still sitting on him) that I can't hear, and she nods vigorously (making him wince- I think she just squished him more).

Kikyo just gave the two of them a smug look. She looks like she knows something they don't… or something along those lines.

Anko is standing around and gives Kikyo a knowing look, jerking her head towards the two (who were still talking and didn't notice). Shiro raises an eyebrow, and then looks at me.

She's gauging how hungry I am. This is why I like Shiro. Smiling, she informs the rest that we would be eating soon. Like, now. Bye!

… Food. I'll be back later.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

They came here

Carrying Kazuki

And I knew

I just _knew_

That my fears had been confirmed.

But at the same time I was

Glad

Because now I would be able to help.

So I told them to put him in the spare bedroom/living room

And now he's happier.

But I must tell Anko

Of Riyu…

I dread it-

It's eating me up,

Like the shadows in the room.

(Don't tell her, but I will have to someday. Tell… her? Now?)

So I tell her where I was.

(Tell her! Tell her! The images scream in my head.)

So I do,

And her face goes pale

Like the moon on a cold summer night.

But she stays silent

Until she regains

Most of her colors.

(I want to cry)

And then she marches back into the other room.

I follow,

But I am far away.

Midori is beside Kikyo

Like an older brother.

He protects her, but he walks alone.

Tearing my gaze from him,

I focus on the four.

My brother,

Sakura,

Kikyo,

And Kazuki.

I watch in silence

As violet eyes regard my brother and the pink-haired girl.

And a shade is behind those eyes

It's the small boy

With grey-green eyes and a limp.

I barely register the words that I say in regards to Anko's query.

(She's trying to distract herself.)

("Jewish. We're supposed to be Jewish.")

Eventually

I look over to Kazuki

He's hungry I can tell

But for a moment

I see

The true reflection

Of the grey-green

In his eyes

(… I see.)

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

Some things never change. For instance, I had run for a long time today so I obviously took a shower.

Simple part: take the darn shower.

Hard part: get yelled at because I don't like getting my shirt wet.

It's not fair. I come downstairs like always, and then I get attacked by Kikyo to put a shirt on. Kazuki is cracking up.

I head downstairs after a few seconds of getting harassed.

My room is the basement. There aren't many lights. Stuff is messy. The walls and floors are stone. It's cold. It's MY ROOM. With capital letters.

After a moment of 'Oh my freaking god where are my clean shirts', I find a black tee and go back upstairs.

There is. Water. GOING. DOWN. MY SHIRT. This isn't my day. I'm having weird things happen to me. I'm getting wet. This is so not cool.

Kazuki is still laughing. He's laughing at me. Grr.

"You know, I can make sure you don't get fed." I say, and he puts on his innocent look. Damn him.

This is the second time that Sakura and Kikyo have berated me today. Now apparently I'm 'mean'. Whoop-de-doo.

Somehow, I end up being sat on by the two. How did this happen? I have no clue. Anko walks in and grins at me.

"Hey kids. Having fun?"

I start to say, 'What do you think?', but Kikyo squashes me before I can say it. Darn. Sakura gives me this sadistic sideways glance.

(Did I mention this is kind of awkward? I mean, she's sitting on my chest. Girls are weird.)

"Sure!" Ow ow ow ow, she's elbowing my ribcage and it's kind of PAINFUL, "What's up, Anko?"

Ugh, Sakura is pulling the creepy little kid thing. Like when they're about to poke you with something sharp but they are trying to look innocent. I hate little kids.

"Good kids. Now, I was wondering… who celebrates Christmas?" Anko asks the weirdest questions… it's a month from that season.

'I do…" Sakura replies, a bit puzzled. Anko turns to me, "What about you?"

I can't believe Anko doesn't know this, "Uh… not usually."

"Why not?"

I cast a sidelong glance at my sister, who is lost in thought. Come to think of it, both she and Anko seem… off.

Sis nods. I try and move under about two hundred pounds of Kikyo and Sakura to see if I can get more lung space. Aha! I can!

"Uh… well, first of all, Itachi's an atheist and… I think we're…?"

… What _are_ we supposed to be? I forget… Christian? Some weird offshoot of Christianity?

"Jewish. We're supposed to be Jewish."

Oh. Jewish.

"Yeah… Jewish. But honestly I think Christmas is kind of more exciting." I say, half to myself and half to Sakura, who is closest. She nods, which jostles my side too much.

I wince. I got kicked there a couple days ago… there was a huge bruise that only just went away.

"I like Christmas. Probably because people feel obliged to be nicer…" Sakura thinks aloud.

I snort, "Not necessarily. I've seen some pretty jerky people out during the holidays."

"Yeah, me too. But at least I feel like I should be nicer and when you are it makes you feel good about yourself. At least, that's what I feel."

"Mm. I'm generally not like that. Being nice is a waste of my time."

She snorts and pokes my other side. Hard.

I bite back a profanity. I don't blame her, but there's a bunch of stitches there. Some idiot with a switchblade did it. It's a small wound, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt if you poke it.

"Hey, watch it! That hurt!"

"Sorry!"

After that, my sister told us we'd eat in a few minutes. Kikyo got off me pretty fast, but Sakura took her time.

… Ow.

My side is bleeding. Actually, if you must know, blood is dripping down my pants. It's kinda awkward. Sakura's almost out of the room when I wheeze out a painful breath. She turns around, puzzled.

Damn. I need her out so I can bandage this wound without her freaking out. Sakura is suspicious. I hate that about her—she is too smart for her own good sometimes. Blood is seeping into my shirt, which is black (this is good). If I tell her I have asthma, she'll know I'm lying.

Good lord, the stitches must have completely unraveled, because it's bleeding way too much to be normal. It was just a switchblade wound, what the heck?!

Sakura is not leaving until I do something. Her eyes are searching. Everyone else has filed out, with my sister helping Kazuki with his leg.

And so the stare-down begins.

Red vs. Green. Who will win? I am hoping she'll leave.

"Are you okay?" she asks. Yes, I was JUST FINE until you WOULDN'T LEAVE. Grr.

"Yes. I'm fine." At least my voice is normal. She won't win in a game of lies.

She gives me a look and then leaves.

I stumble downstairs, rip my shirt off, and try to make the bleeding stop. It works… kinda.

I fell asleep—or blacked out—a few moments after I finished re-bandaging the wound.

I didn't dream. I haven't in a long time.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

I feel kinda like I just got a sugar crash. Maybe that adrenaline rush I got expired. So now, I'm sitting with Sakura while Hideo is… somewhere, the adults are talking, and Kazuki is resting/writing/whatever.

He never stops. Ever. Even when you talk to him, he writes on his arm. I'm actually worried that he's going to get ink poisoning. But Kazuki is actually a really interesting person. I mean, so is Hideo, but Hideo is elusive. He doesn't want his secrets to be found.

Kazuki's, on the other hand, are like a box you are trying to open. You want to know what's within, but it's hard without him even trying.

But it's doable. And I swear to god, I want to know what it is. Sakura won't tell me what happened to him. She looks disturbed when I ask.

Asking him is… I don't know. Weird.

I'm rudely brought back from my thoughts by a certain rude child who should be dropkicked down the stairs.

Hideo. Sakura is dying—He's walking around with no shirt on. Is he insane?! You don't _do _that when you have guests!

"Put a shirt on, idiot!" I yell at the clueless idiot. Sakura is silent, but her face speaks for her. It's bright red. It's redder than her hair.

"What? Got a problem or something?"

"YES, FOOL!"

He frowns and goes downstairs. His room… is the basement. Why am I not surprised… It suits him.

When he comes back up (looking disheveled), he glares at Kazuki, who has been laughing at the whole scenario.

Sakura is staring determinedly at Hideo like she's trying to memorize him _with _shirt to get the image of _without_ shirt out of her head. She ends up looking at the wall. Heh, mission failed. That's what you get.

"You know, I can make sure you don't get fed." Hideo says, annoyed, to Kazuki, who begins to use The Puppy Dog Look. Oh my god, he's…

Okay, so Kazuki's adorable. If you EVER quote me on that, you die. Painfully.

I decide to attack Hideo just for the fun of it. Sakura helps. After a minute or so of mayhem, we end up victorious and on top of a frustrated Hideo. Sweet, sweet victory. Although I have to say, he's not very comfortable. Bony and cold. Yay.

Anko walks in and asks us if we're having fun. Sakura replies yes cheerily and then a kinda of weird discussion about Christmas comes up randomly… but I zone out. I haven't celebrated Christmas in years.

Eventually, we all leave for dinner. Sakura and Hideo don't show up for a while and even then it's only Sakura. I wonder where Hideo went.

When I finally have the sense to ask Sakura, she's gone.

Oh, crap.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

I need to talk to them. Our former classmates. Hana and Deidara.

I dread telling Shiro about my brother. She tried so hard to save him, but his heart and mind joined the shadows of our past. Sometimes, I see the same dark behind me—but I can fight it. I always have.

Walking to Hana and Deidara's house, I observe the normality around me. People laughing, scurrying to work or back from, and telling off their children.

If only. My hand grasps the doorknob. The door creaks open. Immediately as the door closes, I dodge numerous booby traps and trip wires on my way in.

"Who's there?!" Comes Hana's abrasive voice. Storming in with a rolling pin, she may as well be the most terrifying person you'll ever see. Hana Inuzuka has fiery yellow eyes, wild and long brown hair, long (sharp) nails, and tanned skin. Even her teeth are sharp.

When we were young, kids used to make fun of her for being so masculine. Those kids go beaten into a bloody pulp. Hana fights like a wild animal; only when you can smell the blood and have your hands around their neck are they defeated.

"Eh? Itachi. Well, it's about time you came to see us. DEI! ITACHI MAGICALLY SHOWED UP!" She yells up the stairs. Indeed, Hana is the scariest woman to ever grace this planet. Although her mother, Tsume, may also be a close contender.

When Deidara comes down the stairs, you wonder how he isn't dead yet. You see, Deidara's appearance is rather feminine, with long blond hair in a ponytail with bangs over his left eye.

"Calm down, Hana, yeah. I'm right here." He says, flipping his hair. The two were engaged, but we could not afford to have any kind of noticeable event like a wedding right now.

The government was breathing down our necks.

That's why I am here. To tell them of our situation.

Both turn to me resolutely. They are one of our most formidable teams, and you can see it in their eyes. Danger is second nature to them; they live for it.

"Hana; Deidara. Sasuke has become part of the foe. We must act now."

Hana grins, showing abnormally sharp canines.

"Yes, we shall. We are _always_ ready, right Dei?"

I must put my faith in them.

I've done so before.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

Sitting at a table with a good friend is great. Sitting at a table with a good friend in a room where your other friend is recuperating happily is even better.

Sitting at a table with a good friend in a room where your other friend is recuperating happily when ANOTHER (male) friend walks past shirtless is so not good.

I mean, Jesus, Hideo's walking around without a shirt while TWO GIRLS are there? Is he just that clueless? Wait…

No. No. Nononononoooo! Damn him for being… well… ripped. No wonder when I crashed into him earlier it was like hitting a wall. He's pretty skinny, but I guess being skinny does not stop one from having an eight-pack. I'm serious. It's possible.

I know by now that my face is red. Kikyo is yelling at him. I almost groan but force my self to stare at the wall. Walls are nice.

Unfortunately, the damage is done. It will take months of recovery, or him getting a shirt on. When he comes back up from the basement (Kikyo practically chased him down there), he has a shirt.

After a minute, I notice I'm staring and look away. Wall. Wall is my best friend. I love you, wall.

Just then, Hideo says something to Kazuki and Kikyo playfully starts fighting him. I join the fray, and we end up perched on top of him.

Sitting on Hideo is no bad. Well, then again, I'm sitting on his stomach, so…

I focus with all my might on Anko when she arrives.

"Hey kids. Having fun?" She asks. Shiro appears behind her, hands folded in front of her.

"Sure! What's up, Anko?" I say, and elbow Hideo's rib. When in doubt, painfully abuse the person you are in doubt of!

I recant the thought as soon as I can. 'Abuse' is not a word I will ever be able to use lightly again. An image of Kazuki pops up to fast for my liking.

"Good kids. Now, I was wondering… who celebrates Christmas?" Anko asks. Ok-ay. That's not an odd question at all.

"I do." I answer. It's true; every year Aunt Tsunade and I celebrate. But this year… my mother and father won't be coming.

They'll never come again. But… I know they are with me. They have to be. They will know how sorry I am.

Anko has asked Hideo if he and Shiro do. He says no, and I learn something new.

First of all, Itachi's atheist. And then, Shiro and Hideo are from a Jewish family. Clearing the cobwebs of painful memories from my mind, I end up talking to Hideo about the Christmas season.

Gosh, he's such a curmudgeon. For no reason, too.

Shiro tells us to come inside to eat, and we all practically run out except me (And Hideo, but I was sitting on him so does it count?). When I'm practically walking out the door, I hear a muffled grunt of… pain? That was definitely pain. And I don't think I'm _that_ heavy.

I turn around and fix Hideo with a look. He stares back—he's waiting for me to leave.

So not working, buddy.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

You're fine, my _butt_. But I know I won't get any answers from him, so I leave and join the others. After picking at my food a bit, I go back into the sitting room where we had been earlier.

I walk over to the stairs leading to the basement. They're awfully old and rickety—looking, unpainted grayish wood with an equally unpainted banister.

Something on the banister catches my eye.

A small dark spot. Upon closer inspection, it's dark brownish red. Still wet.

That is definitely not water.

* * *

_A twelve—year old girl is hurt. She's washing off her wrist in the sink, crimson rushing down the drain. Hissing in pain, she quickly bandages her wrist and slips a sweatband around the injury, hiding the white bandage._

_She goes to school. Doesn't fit in. Gets good grades but is unhappy with them._

_Everything must be perfect. Even the scars on her wrist are in perfect alignment with each other._

_The first time she's scared of being found out is a sarcastic remark from a lean, scruffy—looking boy her age._

_"What's with the wristband, Haruno? You hiding something?"_

_She stiffens. His eyes are very bright and intelligent._

_"No, you moron. Are you implying that I'm emo or something?"_

_The lazy, crimson red eye regards her with interest. She's scared of that look._

_"Hm. Defensive much?"_

_"Shut up, loser."_

_She kicks him in the shin as hard as she can. He curses with a vocabulary no fourth grader should know._

_That was the first time, but eventually the memory faded. She didn't remember his eyes._

_He forgot too. The chance that he was right hadn't occurred to him yet. It would take some time._

_They now both sport their own scars._

_Hers fade as his deepen._

_It's a fragile balance._


	10. Scars Heal and an Alley

~The Fire, the Ice, and the Wind~

-10-

-

-

-

_Sometimes, there are no words necessary._

_The silence between two lovers, or enemies. Best friends. The spoken word is simply not needed._

_She hasn't learned this yet. Therefore, she has hurt herself and those closest to her for all fifteen years of her life. Fifteen… almost sixteen._

_For some unfathomable reason, she is drawn to him. He knows silence, and knows it well. Perhaps he could teach her if he wasn't so very far away. _

_He doesn't believe in happy endings. Life has given him no reason to. _

_Yet still, he strives to give others a good life by staining his own with blood._

_Martyrdom is a double-edged blade—he helps others while injuring himself and the ones who love him._

_That's why he is a mystery. _

_The drain in his room clogs because blood has washed down into the pipes so frequently._

_Now, she's about to find out that the blood sacrifice is not always selfish like her own._

_Now, she will see the world she lives in._

_Even the part where people bleed for others._

_

* * *

  
_

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

I don't make a fuss. I calmly walk into the other room, and ask Shiro if I could talk with her. She nods (looking worried) and goes into the next room with me.

I tell her what I saw. She considers my words for a moment, and then asks me if Aunt Tsunade taught me about her work yet.

Now, Aunt Tsunade may be our principal, but she's also a retired doctor. She's awesome at both jobs and ever since I was little I wanted to be just like her. So, she took me under her wing and taught me what she could in the time when she wasn't busy and I was locked in my room reading or doing schoolwork.

So yes, I do know quite a bit. But it is all book learning, I tell Shiro. She just nodded and went down into the basement.

I followed.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it was dark, messy, and creepy down there. Fits Hideo perfectly.

Shiro finds him in record time—god knows how, it was so dark--- and the first thing she does is wake him up.

"Otouto, wake up."

It surprises me when he does. I mean, she is very quiet… if I was asleep, there is no way that would wake me up. But his eyes snap open in the dark. Plus, I've never heard that language before…

Now, I'm absolutely sure that something about this family is weird. First, he does that weird out of body thing, and now his eyes glow in the dark.

That's right. His eyes glow in the freaking dark. Well, his hair hid one eye but the visible one was illuminating that side of his face.

He was paler than usual.

Shiro was using some form of wordless sibling communication thing, because she didn't even ask a question before he answered.

"Side wound. Stitches… came undone." He wheezed. Wait. Stitches? What did he do to himself? Wait. I…

"Mmhm." She agrees and begins to unwrap bandages from his torso, then turns to me, "Can you find the light switch? It should be over there…" Shiro pointed to the far corner near the stairs.

Hideo's eye narrowed. I could see it because the light dimmed a bit. He was probably ticked that I followed him.

A sinking feeling gaped in my stomach. It had probably been me who broke the stitches—I had after all been sitting on him. I found the light switch and flicked it on. He hissed as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"Aneue, what is _she_ doing down here?"

"Shut up, Otouto, you would still be out if she had not come and gotten me. You would still be bleeding as well… why is it that you are bleeding so much?"

"Hell… if I know…" He replied, wincing as Shiro accidentally poked the area around the gash. It was pretty nasty, about four inches long and probably one inch deep at the middle.

"… What happened?" My own voice surprised me. He wouldn't tell me. I knew it even before he said anything.

"Nothing."

Soon enough, I was locked in the same staring contest that always seemed to happen when he and I argued. I focused all of me into one thought: I want to know, tell me. I repeated this like a mantra for a minute or so in my head before Shiro told us she needed to get something from upstairs.

Hideo growled, sitting with his back up to the stone wall. I folded my arms across my chest and leaned on one leg.

"Look, Sakura, it's _none of your business_." He spat when Shiro was out of the room. I almost recoiled at his acidic tone, but fired back, "Oh really?"

"Yes. Why should you care?"

"Because I'm a _human being_."

"You're implying I'm not?"

"Maybe. You don't seem to understand basic empathy."

"So be it. And?"

"AND what I'm TRYING to tell you, you moron, is that I was WORRIED," For good measure, I added, "Duh." Then I realized that if hadn't added that, it'd just sound… well, I don't know. Too… concerned. If I had exempted the 'you moron' part, I'd sound like I actually liked him. Right now, I was pretty annoyed at him, so depending on what he said next…

There was silence until he said, "Some things are better left alone, Sakura." I huffed and was about to reply when he continued and stopped my heart short, "Just like that band on your arm, no?"

We'd had this conversation before, all those years ago, hadn't we? He knew. He's known since fourth grade. Last time, I kicked him and that was that. But now…

"Care to take it off, Sakura?"

"Wh-what?" I stutter back, unable to counter his silent accusation. I could see myself in my mind's eye, reeling backwards as if struck. But in reality, I was just rooted to the floor. His eyes burned in the dim light, words dripping poison like a rattlesnake. I wished Shiro would come back suddenly.

"You know what I'm talking about, Haruno. If you think that you're safe by hiding it like that, you'd do best to wear long sleeves all the time."

I looked at him, awestruck. Hideo knew about the thin white scars on my wrist. Nobody that has ever known me has guessed, and here he was, this… this boy that I'd only really known for a few months. Fine. I… I cut myself. I used to. I still do. I want to. I don't want to. He's…

"You…" I couldn't even finish my reply.

Stoplight eyes regarded me with apathetic interest. Predatory. If anyone could go in for the kill, it was Hideo.

(_And Sasuke. Sasuke could always do that too.)_

Again, I didn't realize that I was moving till I did. My other arm took the sweatband off, and I cradled my wrist while tracing the scars with my finger.

"I haven't done this since last summer…"

Same gaze. A long pause. He got up and pushed my arm back towards me, "Aneue is coming."

My eyes widened more.

I quietly squeaked, "Thank you…" as Shiro came down the stairs.

He'd given me a choice.

Either stop and have him leave it alone, or keep going and have him secretly on my tail forever.

I hastily wiped my stupid crybaby eyes. But you know, I couldn't help it.

He had given me the choice. And I was grateful.

Since he was standing again, I saw that the gash really was dripping. The bandage that had been around it was on the ground, almost completely red. Upon closer inspection, I could even see the shredded black thread that had been holding his flesh closed. Shiro trotted up like this happened every day with new bandages in one hand and a plastic bag in the other. As she pulled out a needle and threaded it, I felt a little sick. Even Hideo was eyeing that needle a bit warily.

"I know that this isn't as sterile as the clinic's, but it'll have to make due until you break them again," Shiro said, amused. Wait… break them _again_? How many times does this happen? How many times do you get sliced open, anyway?

"Umm… uh… What is—why do… what's going on?" My voice is still shaky and even if I managed to fend of the tears earlier, my vision gets blurred as the needle inches closer to Hideo's side.

"Don't worry about this, it happens a lot." Shiro starts to sew the gash shut, and Hideo's voice becomes a little higher and strangled. If just watching makes me sick, then it must be hell for him. His eyes try to focus on something else but keep flicking back to the needle. For the first time, he looks scared. It's unfamiliar on his tanned features and he looks so much younger. He looks his age; I can't help but wonder what made him grow up so fast. People always mistake me for being older than I am because my eyes, my demeanor, and my voice have aged before my face. Results of missing my parents, never having them around, sitting and hating them... I'm sure even my face will look old too if something else happens after… the plane.

But something didn't make sense. Why would Hideo, a fifteen (Sixteen? I'm not sure) year old, get… knifed? He said something about a switchblade. I'm positive Shiro isn't the kind of older sister to let him run around in the rough parts of town, but here she is joking about him getting hurt. Like it's common.

"Sakura?" It's Shiro. I look up into her watery aqua eyes. That's the thing about Shiro: she has a melancholy look to her, with mournful eyes that are always sparkly. She continues, "I know you're confused. But you'll be told soon what is going on here. Very soon. Is that acceptable?"

"What about Kikyo and Kazuki?" I ask, trying to ignore Hideo, who was glaring at the new stitches and the dried blood that stained his pants. He was sitting on the other side of the bed now, as far away from the bloodied needle as possible. Shiro assures me that Kikyo and Kazuki will be told what's going on as we walk up the stairs. The problem is that I don't even have the slightest inkling of what is happening to me. To them. To… him.

First, the odd things that Hideo does, like die temporarily and glow in the dark. Then, this… this suggestion of violence. Before he's out of sight, I turn for a second to look back at Hideo.

My head reels. His back is towards me, and I can finally see the thick white scars running horizontally across his shoulders.

I've seen different patterns of scar tissue in my textbooks. There are the thin white knife slashes, the grotesque burn scars, and I remember always thinking that the most disturbing was always the whip scars. Previously flayed tissue trying to knit itself back together, becoming a pattern of knotted vines across the skin. The only whip scars I'd ever seen before were in pictures on a page. Now, I wonder how I didn't see the marks on his back when he walked past Kikyo, Kazuki, and I earlier.

He turns and sees my expression and his stop-sign eyes narrow knowingly in the half-light.

He knows my secret.

Now I know part of his, whatever it is.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

Walking up to the big, seemingly deserted warehouse though the slums with two rather noticeable people such as Hana and Deidara is no small feat. It may seem simple, but Deidara is always earning sneering looks from the men along this street. Little do they know that in combat he is a dangerous beast. None of them would stand a chance.

Hana is complaining to him that he doesn't ever do the laundry. Deidara tells her that he indeed does not because he already does the dishes.

I clear my throat loudly, and they stop bickering long enough to slip unnoticed down an alley. The warehouse is silent until Roku's voice addresses our presence.

"Come on guys, we all know you're not anyone else. Get in here," The intercom buzzes, crackling to disguise his voice. I don't bother to search where he's hidden the camera this time. It is nearly impossible to find anyway.

The floor splits, growling open with complaint. Hana is down the rickety steps before I can move, zipping into the tunnel below the building. She hasn't been to camp recently, I suppose. When Deidara and I follow, the familiar stench of earth and rusting metal reassures me nothing has changed.

This is the Camp. It is our true home. Hana has already began to gossip with Rosie, the hulking storekeeper. Hana's gravelly voice clashes with Rosie's low growl as they reminisce. Deidara nods at me and heads over to the office to receive their mission info.

After a few moments, I decide to go and check on Rayn. After Shiro's visit (which she described to me in detail), he is probably suffering from confusion and pain. Even doctors have illnesses they cannot treat.

The clinic is still exactly the same as always when I arrive. Sure enough, Rayn is there. However, there is another person there that I could frankly do without. Dragga.

"Oi, if it isn't Itachi. Wait… you're not engaged yet, are you? Please tell me you aren't!" Indeed, I could most definitely do without Dragga no Jyuubi's presence. This boy, no more than seventeen, was incorrigible already. It didn't matter who he was talking to. If they were remotely attractive, he would most likely start to flirt incessantly. Male or female.

"I did not come to converse with _you_. Rayn, would you spare me a moment?"

Rayn lifts his shaggy head and nods. Despite the dark circles beneath his eyes, he still retains his professional, clean-shaven look. Dragga complains in the background, but is promptly ignored.

(I am envious of Rayn's strength. I Shiro left the way Riyu did… I would not be able to go on at all.)

"Yes. Dragga, kindly get out."

The boy starts to whine, "But-" Rayn shoots him a stoic glare, sending a flash of white hair and yellow eyes out the clinic door like a rocket. I wonder why he was here in the first place, and raise my eyebrow at Rayn questioningly. He shakes his head wordlessly, indicating that Dragga had no apparent purpose in his irritating visit. Even so, I feel that today may be one of the rare occasions when Dragga is a civil human being.

You see, Dragga is a complex person despite being seemingly two-dimensional. If you are around him long enough, you'll understand. The person who would know best is a girl Hideo's age named Ino Yamanaka. Speaking of…

"Rayn, has Ino been alright lately?"

He looks up, an odd expression flitting across his features, "No. By no means. I don't think she'll ever recuperate unless she… she has to stop doing that to herself."

Ino hung around the bad parts of town. We had reason to believe that she has been assaulted numerous times. Rayn, Shiro, and I have tried to help her, but we still have no clue what goes on. We've tried asking Dragga, but he withdraws into himself and becomes moody and remote every time.

Rayn continues after a while, "I think she was the reason he was here today. Maybe he needed to tell me something," he paused and though for a bit before adding, "But I don't see why he would leave without saying anything when you arrived. If he was going to say something… he'd had ten minutes before you came to say it."

I knew what it was. Even if I was not a Psychology major, I would know.

"He was afraid."

The medic's brow furrows, "Of what he had to say?"

"Yes. It was definitely about Ino then. Perhaps I should go find him…?"

Rayn shakes his head in defeat, "No. If it is that important he'll-"

A shadow enters the large tent, startling Rayn, "Come back? Yes."

Dragga's face looks much older without his usual jaunty grin. Expression grim, this time he opens his mouth we listen.

"You need to recall Ino immediately. Keep her in Camp. Out of the streets. Now."

"Dragga, we cannot do anything without an explanation."

He growls, frustrated, much like Hideo does when annoyed. Dragga never leaves Hideo alone when he's around, so it makes sense that he acts similarly sometimes. Of course, Hideo is not in the least thrilled at Dragga's flirtatious presence…

"She's not being safe. Look, Ino is going to get seriously screwed up if she's left to her own devices. Ever wonder where she gets her money?" He bites out, almost hissing. Talking about Ino has always been difficult for Dragga.

"Very well. I'll speak to the Commander then."

Dragga looks relieved, running a hand through his hair, "Thank you."

He dashes out of the clinic. I stay, and worry about what he meant.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

Well, some days are good and some days are bad. Today, I decide, is a good day. A very good day. Mainly because of the food. And the people.

These people are AWESOME. I'm with Anko, Shiro, Sakura, Kazuki, and… wait.

That's right! Sakura left. And Hideo was gone… somewhere. I looked around and saw that Shiro had disappeared. What next, is Anko going to up and leave? Or Kazuki?

I sigh and finish the last on my mashed potatoes. Ah, dear potatoes… I love you. Kazuki is staring out the window. The grey sky had finally given in to rain, and somehow the way he looks now is nostalgic. Kazuki's gaunt face against a rain-streaked window is just natural. Depressing, yes; but that's just the way it was. Maybe if he ATE MORE he'd look better.

I mean, he was hungry and he's not even done. Sheesh. But… crap! Anko is stealing his plate.

I cough obnoxiously, and he looks over in a daze. She freezes as he regards her calmly.

After a moment of me trying to look innocent, Anko looking guilty, and him snapping out of his daze, he says, "It's okay, you can have it."

"THANKS SWEETIE!" Anko thanks him enthusiastically and indeed steals the plate.

I examine him a bit longer. Kazuki's all skin and bones, and I wonder what happened. Blaming myself for not ever noticing how painfully thin he was, I begin to worry. Worry for this boy I'd known for only months. But he was so similar to Kazu, every time I saw him out of the corner of my eye I had to whip around to see which one he really was.

It was always Kazuki. Kazu has evaporated from my life, never to be seen again.

The melted marshmallow foam in my hot chocolate swirls as I stir it. The mug is warm.

Shiro passes the dining room on her way upstairs. She motions Anko over, leaving me and Kazuki in the room with a lot of dirty dishes and even more silence.

I decide to be that jerk who shatters it.

"Hey Kazuki?"

"Mmmhhwhat?" he sighs, turning away from the window on his awesome swivel-ly bar stool (I really want one. I need to ask Shiro where she bought them.) and looking at me with hazy green eyes.

I wait a minute for him to snap out of it. When he does, he jolts a bit and massages his temples. Then he looks up, sees my bemused expression, and promptly starts turning red.

I think he has a blushing issue. I mean, he ALWAYS is blushing. It's kinda cute, actually.

"Wh-what?" He stutters. It would make me laugh if it was anyone else. Kazuki can stutter without looking like an idiot, somehow.

"Well, I just feel outta the loop here," I pause, wondering if it's okay to ask, "What… happened? I mean, if you don't want to tell me it's fine but…" I trailed off uncertainly. His eyes flickered with some sadness.

"It's fine."

There's a long pause again. He keeps fidgeting and I start to wonder if his leg is aching. He did break it, after all. He doesn't even have a cast yet, and I end up thinking that we should probably get him to a hospital soon so… but the people at the hospital wouldn't help him. The collar's silver emblem seems to burn my eyes, reflecting the overhead light's glare.

His voice startles me, "It's my father."

His father.

The words echo. His _father_. I accidentally choke on my own spit in my surprise, and start coughing. His own _father_ did this to him.

And Kazuki didn't tell anyone.

"W…hy?" I wheeze out in between coughs, "Why didn't you," coughed again, "Tell us?"

Green turns sad, like the sea, "I was scared. Scared he would find me. Even now…" He sends a longing look out the window, "I'm worried about a jerk and I'm not quite sure why."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion, "A jerk?"

"My brother. My twin brother," he says, head resting on his hand, "I don't know how Father will react, but if my imagination is accurate he won't take the disappearance of his favorite punching bag too well."

"Why is your brother a douche?"

His blush, which had gotten better, goes bright red again, "T-that's n-not what I said!"

I wave him away, "Pshaw, that's what you wanted to say."

He snorts, and the redness fades into pink again, "W-well, fine then. But he's not a very nice person," (I take the pause to insert, 'douchebag'), "And he hates me as much as Father. But he'll be hurt worse than I am if he inadvertently goes home and Father gets him. So I need… I-I n-need to go back."

"WHAT?" I growl in disbelief. He gets away from his abusive father and then worries about his douche of a brother. But before I knew what to say to that, there was another thing I needed to know. I poked the air in the general direction of the collar, "Is he…?"

Kazuki shakes his head, ruffled hair following the movement, "No. He's not. It's a mutation so even though his genetic make-up is exactly the same he isn't… a collar."

"So he hates you, isn't a collar, is a douche, and you're worried about him getting hurt?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and yes."

I consider playfully swatting him, but since he's all cut up I decide not to.

The next time I look out the window, I get up and stand next to it. Kazuki looks too, and his profile looks natural in the sunlight too.

There's a rainbow outside.

It's beautiful.

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

Darkness. Funny, I actually like being knocked out sometimes. I just don't like waking up.

My sister's voice. I can hear it.

My eye snap open in the darkness of my room. The piles of crap are familiar and make me feel safer than normal. Sis is there.

She has her contact films on. Her eyes aren't glowing. I know I should have mine in, but… Okay, fine, I'm lazy sometimes.

"Side wound. Stitches came undone." My words became broken by a painful cough. My throat was raw. I swallow a few times to alleviate it. Doesn't work too well.

Sis hums something in reply, and begins to unwrap the hastily thrown on bandages on me. It's a horrible job, and berate myself for being sloppy until she turns and asks into the darkness, 'if you can find the light switch' and points out the switch.

After a second of looking, I see the Sakura standing there. She looks guilty. There's an eating burning sensation in my chest. I'm angry that she's down here. She fumbles with the light, and when it turns on my eyes adjust painfully. Fortunately, I am hurting enough that I don't notice but I still hiss. Just to make her feel bad.

"Aneue, what is _she_ doing down here?" I'm still hissing. I'm angry. I bit the inside on my mouth. It hurts and adds to the list of injuries I already have.

"Shut up, Otouto, you would still be out if she had not come and gotten me. You would still be bleeding as well… why is it that you are bleeding so much?"

"Hell… if I know…" It was true, that was bleeding way more than usual. If anything, I should be bleeding less. I bleed enough anyway, thanks much.

Sakura's still watching, "… What happened?"

I want to tell her to go upstairs, to shut up, and tell her the truth all at the same time.

Instead, I tell her it was nothing. Nothing. The word reverberates in my skull, making it hard to think and making me even more weirdly angry than before. I feel as if I'm not myself today.

Sis goes upstairs to get the dreaded needle that Rayn gave her for incidents like these. Just the thought of that thing distresses me. I prop myself up against the wall, fingernails scraping the stone floor. A deep growl makes my chest vibrate, mildly surprising even me.

But Sakura stays. After a while, it's just me and her. I know I'm glaring at her, but I feel removed still.

"Look, Sakura, it's _none of your business_." I adopt my knife-edge voice in an attempt to make her go away. I was cornered, literally up against a wall, and she just wouldn't go away. I was under orders. There was nothing I could tell her.

"Oh really?" She fired back immediately.

"Yes. Why should you care?" Sakura, Sakura. She just can't seem to understand the concept of privacy. Even then, she's a hypocrite for asking for privacy herself.

"Because I'm a _human being_."

The words sting like a blow. My back starts to tingle menacingly against the freezing stone wall.

"You're implying I'm not?" I spat.

"Maybe. You don't seem to understand basic empathy." Again, if she had actually slapped me it would have been less effective. I've heard the accusation before, along with a lot of painful memories. _Not human_. I feel like laughing. Hysterically.

So I played the game, "So be it. And?"

"AND what I'm TRYING to tell you, you moron, is that I was WORRIED. Duh." For a moment after she said that, something dances across her face. Confusion? But it didn't matter. What I really needed to do is pull this conversation away from me.

"Some things are better left alone, Sakura." She starts to speak again, but I interrupt her, "Just like that band on your arm, no?"

Sakura's eyes go wide. I see tears well up and she doesn't even notice as they pool. They don't fall.

I press on, "Care to take it off, Sakura?" She starts to stutter, showing me that I was right all along. I continue, "You know what I'm talking about, Haruno. If you think that you're safe by hiding it like that, you'd do best to wear long sleeves all the time." I use her last name. I don't know why.

"You…" She trailed off. I'm sure she wonders how I know. In reality, I just _knew_. It was so blatantly obvious to me for whatever reason. How could Tsunade not see it?

She take it off slowly, like she's scared of what will jump out at her, "I haven't done this since last summer…"

I heard my sister's light footsteps and I wonder if she knows. Probably not. She hasn't been around Sakura enough. I pull myself up, using the wall to stand. I've thankfully stopped bleeding. My pant leg is soaked quite disgustingly. But I've been worse. I walk up to Sakura and push her wrist back towards her.

"Aneue is coming."

As I walk past her to maybe hide from the needle, I hear her whisper.

"Thank you…"

Sis comes bounding down the stairs and if Sakura wasn't here I'd be running away crazily. I hate needles, I hate needles poking me, and I REALLY hate needles going in my flesh.

"I know that this isn't as sterile as the clinic's, but it'll have to make due until you break them again," Sis says good-naturedly. Ah-hah. Like hell I'm going to break them again. I don't want to get more stitches. She starts threading the needle and all I can think about is how gross stitches are. I can't even remember the anger I had before. Sakura is stuttering madly again (I guess I'm not the only one who is creeped out by needles).

"Don't worry about this, it happens a lot." I say- then I realized that I might be shivering as the needle started sewing my side back together. Look away… look at something else… Holy crap that's an ugly needle. And yes, needles can be ugly.

Sis is explaining to Sakura that she will be told what's going on eventually, blah, blah. Sis finishes and puts away the bloody needle and snips the extra thread. When she turns and starts up the stairs, I poke the red area around the wound. It hurts. I poke it again, but sigh and get up to put a shirt on.

I feel eyes boring into my back. Turning a bit, I lock my glare onto Sakura.

The scars feel like they are boiling.

I pull my shirt on as she scurries upstairs.

"Damn it, _Sasuke_."

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

Sakura tells me.

But I know, somehow. Things have became clearer lately.

I can _see_ as they see now.

So happy, yes. So worried, yes. Afraid. Exhilarated.

When she leads me downstairs, I wake up Otouto.

He sees her there and it triggers an adverse reaction,

Anger,

And he forgot to put in the film contacts again.

Again.

Sakura- she's guilty. She is carrying more weight than

She should be at this age.

Otouto broke the stitches

So I go to get the needle upstairs, but I needed to talk to Anko

(I think Otouto and Sakura need to talk as well. Something odd is wedged between them, like a slip of paper in a bookshelf.)

"Anko. May we talk?"

"Yup."

We go up. The windows are dirty, but they still

Make music

With the rain.

"Anko, I heard that Hana and Deidara were dispatched

A day ago."

She nods. I shudder.

"After Sasuke?"

She nods.

I wait till her anger

(I can see it boiling around her head)

Overflows

And it does.

"That boy, no, man deserves to die. Itachi told you what he saw at his house?"

I start to nod, but she continues without waiting,

"There were thirty collars there. _Without _necks. He killed them, Shiro. That little _child _ killed them, and he thinks it's right. Orochimaru has poisoned him beyond repair. In fact, I- I… I want…"

She looks at me pleadingly.

I look out the window

"I... I want to kill him... myself."

(Coward, meet her gaze!)

I feel it too. The want

To find him

And make him pay

For what he has done

To these innocents.

I go to the drawer and get the needle. Anko

Seems to not notice

And I'm glad because she would be angry at Otouto for busting his stitches again.

I go downstairs, leaving her to her thoughts,

Pass Kazuki and Kikyo.

I can still see the shades following Kikyo.

But there's a horrible creature hovering behind Kazuki.

Burnt flesh, holes for eyes, bony scratching fingers, bloody lips stitched shut,

And it's wrapped around his thin frame.

I speed up.

Once in the basement, I sew up Otouto and notice the slip of paper is gone.

The anger has faded from my brother. Sakura

Is still afraid, but now it is real

She must stop fleeing from her past.

And Otouto?

He needs to let people closer without lashing out and running away.

I leave to go upstairs.

I think I am forgetting something.

But when

I open the door

To my room

It stares me in the face, pale skin and all.

Sasuke.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

I know, I know. Still Nameless. Maybe I'll name you that: Nameless. The three months that Kazuki was not creative.

At dinner, I stay quiet and eat what I can. Really, I am starving but my body doesn't need as much sustenance to survive so I'm full pretty quickly. I hope I can eat normally now that I'm free… free from Father. And Yukio.

When I'm done, I turn to the window. It's raining, but it's still nice to look outside. I follow a single raindrop running down the window with my eyes.

The pangs in my chest start to bother me, and my leg hurts a lot. My minor injuries are nothing compared to it. Shiro splinted it for me, so it will get better. It was really painful to set it, but she's so nice about everything.

I wonder what Father will do when he realizes I'm not coming back. Most likely, he'll take it out on Yukio… what if- what if he does what he did to me? Breaks a bone? Or even… Kill him? He's still my brother, I can't just leave him even if he hates me. I-

Kikyo coughs loudly. I look over my shoulder to see Anko stealing my leftovers. The sight makes me stifle laughter, and I tell Anko that she can have it.

"THANKS SWEETIE!" She yells, and when I turned back to the window I was grinning like an idiot.

After a while, I think Anko got up to leave and Shiro had slipped away too. Sakura left a while ago, and Hideo didn't come at all.

Kikyo's voice surprised me, "Hey Kazuki?"

My eyesight and mind still foggy, I reply groggily, "Mmmhhwhat?" I swivel around on the stool (I had sat at the island in the kitchen) and try and snap out of my daze. When I do, I notice Kikyo staring at me and I feel my face heat up as I stutter, "Wh-what?"

She gets serious, "Well, I just feel outta the loop here," She looks kind of hesitant, "What… happened? I mean, if you don't want to tell me it's fine but…"

"It's fine."

The words flew out of my mouth before I knew it. I berated myself for a minute (Why'd you do that you MORON?)

"It's my father."

I immediately regret telling her, because she swallows wrong and starts choking violently, "W…hy? Why didn't you," she coughs and swallows, "Tell us?"

"I was scared. Scared he would find me. Even now…" I look away from her questioning eyes, "I'm worried about a jerk and I'm not quite sure why."

"A jerk?" her expression is exaggeratedly confused, but that's just Kikyo. Even when we were younger, she always was extreme.

"My brother. My twin brother. I don't know how Father will react, but if my imagination is accurate he won't take the disappearance of his favorite punching bag too well." My head jerks up and don because my hand is stopping my jaw from moving as I rest my chin on my palm. My hair falls into my face.

"Why is your brother a douche?" She asks, and I start to blush again because I would never, ever call Yukio a douche to his face. I'd get creamed in an instant.

"T-that's n-not what I said!"

She waves away my protest with her hand. Her blue nail polish is chipping, but it looks natural on her, "Pshaw, that's what you wanted to say."

"W-well, fine then. But he's not a very nice person-"

"Douchebag." She cuts in mischievously.

"-And he hates me as much as Father does. But he'll be hurt worse than I am if he inadvertently goes home and Father gets him. So I need… I-I n-need to go back."

She snorts, "WHAT?" Kikyo pauses and jabs a finger at the collar around my neck, "Is he…?"

I answer her partially unasked question, "No. He's not. It's a mutation so even though his genetic make-up is exactly the same he isn't… a collar." It was true. The OUT64 mutation was not carried in genes at all.

Kikyo regards me with her violet eyes, "So he hates you, isn't a collar, is a douche, and you're worried about him getting hurt?"

I blink, "Yes, yes, yes, and yes."

And that was our conversation. Eventually, the sun comes out and she comes to stand next to me.

The rainbow is missing a color, though. Violet wasn't there.

Green was.

* * *

_Shut up, Sakura._

_The girl, only about thirteen, stiffens. She's alone with her friend and doesn't know why he was being so cold to her today._

_Sasuke? Are you OK? You've been-_

_He fixes her with a terrifying glare, and she whimpers a bit and shrinks herself into the wall._

_They're at his brother's house, and she had been so happy to spend some time with her crush she hadn't questioned why they were here._

_We are not here for fun. So be still and quiet, Haruno._

_She is. She is scared of this boy now, and some tears escape down her porcelain cheeks._

_He pulls out a cell phone and speed dials. He sounds sickly happy._

_Yes, I have the Haruno. Yes. Hurry up those harebrained idiots. No, she's quite useless. Talks too much, etcetera._

_He's interrupted when his older brother bursts through the door and grabs her arm, pulling her behind him._

_Sasuke, you've gone too far. Leave! Your forces cannot reach here any longer._

_The boy's eyes narrow, and he backs up to an open window. Twisting, he leaps out of the two-story house into the alley below. His brother turns to the girl._

_Sakura, I am sorry to admit this, and I should have seen it before, but… my brother was faking. He is cruel, and has been to you. I am sorry._

_His voice is earnest, and comforting._

_Still, the tears don't stop until she is home and safely in her aunt's arms._

_Those thugs will pay for hurting you, love. Shh, don't cry. Boys like that are useless._

_That was the girl's first glimpse of being in love._

_In the end, even that was stripped from her by Sasuke Uchiha._


	11. Parties and The Plane

~Chapter 11~

-

-

-

_The holidays are warm._

_The holidays are happy._

_The holidays are a great time to prank your friends._

_(and students)_

_She thinks it's funny how every time they get a moment it seems like forever because there isn't any fighting. _

_Fighting has become living and living has become fighting, for all of them._

_But dark secrets also loom ahead, stifling and hot._

_But Anko stays strong. She expects their doom, readies for it, wishes for it feverishly at night._

_At night._

_Her masochistic tendencies have spread, and she must pull them back from their recipients._

_But can she?_

_Or will they cling to the gleeful pain?_

_Hopeless cases are like holidays. Warm, happy, and prone to pranks.

* * *

_

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

It's been a month and a half since Dragga came to me pleading on Ino's behalf. I also learned that Shiro's suspicions had been confirmed- Kazuki's father had been beating both him and his twin brother Yukio every night that he came home. For now, Kazuki stays with us. Shiro has practically given him the guest room and Hideo (being foolish) had even returned to his house and smuggled out everything he could find of Kazuki's, which wasn't much.

Apparently, he and Kazuki's twin do not get along at all.

He came back from his second break-in with a bloody nose. I inquired about it and he exploded in a wild flurry of cursing mixed with the occasional 'Yukio' in it. From what I could decipher, he had gotten in a fight after Yukio punched him. I tried to explain that Yukio probably thought that Hideo was someone else (his father), but Hideo wouldn't have any of it. Kazuki was mortified.

I've met Yukio once. Very mean-looking face with bleached white hair with one black streak- the inverse of Kazuki. That encounter ended with him flipping us off.

Even so, Anko decided to have the annual holidays party at Tsunade's mansion. The place was large enough for all of the Camp, plus the three new students. I met the one I didn't know- Kikyo- just last week.

Intriguing girl.

Anko seems to like her. The two get along quite well. Kazuki seems on the fence about her- I have known him long enough to know that he is hesitant with talking to her, yet relaxed in her presence. It is puzzling.

Hideo is, as per usual, completely relaxed with her. They have similar personalities.

Sakura, on the other hand… She and Hideo have been avoiding each other. Eye contact, sitting next to each other, even being in the same conversation.

It makes me wonder. Shiro told me that Sakura had found out about him having the switchblade wound in his side (which has healed by now). Perhaps that is why they are ignoring each other.

However, let me go back to the present. We are waiting at Tsunade's house for the other guests.

Yes, it is our Annual Holidays Celebration. I, being an atheist, am merely here because I was invited and Shiro was going whether I was or not. The whole Camp should be here, but I worry that it was unwise to include Sakura, Kikyo, and Kazuki.

Saying that, for instance, I met Rayn after I was shot in the leg in a skirmish would not be a favorable introduction.

Sakura comes downstairs, excited and dressed up. Even after all the years that have passed since her incident with Sasuke, she has not changed much.

She's happy. It makes me feel like less of a failure. You see, if I had seen the darkness growing in my brother I might have been able to protect this little girl from the pain she went through. Part of me feels responsible for her.

But my job is done for now. I was to make sure that she did not get in trouble before Hideo got here.

Hideo is here. Hideo is… late. And slightly underdressed. I prefer to wear a multi-purpose suit to most formal occasions. My foolish almost- brother gets away with a long-sleeve black shirt and dark jeans.

… I sigh.

Shiro is in the kitchen, helping Tsunade and Kurenai get dinner ready. She was radiant in her white dress and together with Tsunade, Kurenai, and Asuma, they were a professional kitchen.

Yes. Asuma cooks.

The women forbid him to smoke inside, though, so he is miserable.

Hideo is miserable, too. He has to find an excuse to follow around Sakura for the rest of the evening, being assigned as her bodyguard. Not that she knows.

So he does. Kazuki came with us, leg healed, and they are just conversing (Kazuki, like me, has the sense to wear a suit.)

Shiro comes out of the kitchen before dinner.

"'Tachi! How are you?"

"Just fine. And you?"

She laughs and grins softly, playfully running her fingers through my ponytail. "I'm always okay. Poor Otouto… Sakura-chan is going to think he's following her on purpose."

"He is."

"You know what I mean, silly! I just know that he'll complain all the way home."

I sigh again.

She is still smiling. "Maybe I can get him out of it later, when Anko's had a few glasses of wine."

I raised an eyebrow, "Kakashi's not going to let her drive again, is he?"

"They walked just to avoid that. That's why Anko is barefoot. She wore sneakers."

Typical. Something must always be dysfunctional. I lift my head at the doorbell rings. Shiro trots over and answers it.

It's Hana and Deidara. And the rest of the Camp. I nearly was able to get up when my phone rang. Sliding the thin silver device open, I put it up to my ear.

"Itachi. _Bring the girl._"

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

I woke up this morning with the hugest smile on my idiot face ever. You see, I got this dress. And it's pretty. And I get to wear it today, at the Christmas/ Off-From-Work Party at Tsunade's humungous mansion and everyone's gonna be there.

Sakura, Hideo, Anko, Ms. Yuuhi, Mr. Sarutobi, Mr. Hatake, Principal Tsunade (of course), Shiro, Itachi, Ms. Inuzuka, and that creepy Deidara guy she's engaged to. And other people. Gosh, but something…

Kazuki. Kazuki's gonna be there. Like, oh my god. It's been a month or so since I talked to him by the window now and even though I've talked to him at school something has been bothering me. Maybe he's gained some weight or something- which is good for him because he was so skinny. Maybe he just got taller.

I shower and let my hair down for once. _I_ didn't even remember what I look like with my hair down, but it looks okay, I guess. Then, grinning like a maniac, I took out my dress almost creepily reverent.

You see, it's a dark grey shiny material that ends at my knees and has off- the- shoulder straps. It's so cute. After slipping it on, I reveled in my fashion win before slipping on my short heels and trotting out the door with my poofy winter coat on.

I was walking down the street, though, when some guy started to follow me. Now, I don't appreciate creepos following me. Although something looked familiar about his face, he was pretty rough-looking. I picked up the pace, and he just plodded along behind me.

Finally, I reached Principal Tsunade's house just as a large group of people passed through the door.

I glanced behind me. Oh my God! He was going to the SAME _HOUSE_!?

"Who are you?!" I exclaimed, and he just glared at me before answering, "None of your business."

I huffed, "Uh, yeah it is, punk, because this is _my_ friend's house and you're creepy and _annoying_." I said sulkily.

He scoffed at me, "Whatever." I walked inside without looking at him anymore. He was a jerk. But his face still irked me. He had white hair with a black streak (just like Kazuki… but different colors) and weird green eyes that were hard and cold and mean.

He brushed past me, too close, and I think- I _think he just brushed my butt_. And he is going to die.

"Hey! You!"

He turns, and so does half the room, "What?"

"Don't you 'what' me! Watch where your hand goes, you creep! Manners evaporate in your presence or somethin'?!" I said loudly, relishing in the horrible looks this kid was getting. Instead of eliciting embarrassment like I wanted, he smirked, "Ooh, the girl is spunky. I like that."

I was choking on the disgusting-ness when I heard a familiar voice, "You."

Hideo parked himself in front of the guy, and had this really evil look on his face. Like killing someone was morally right and he could do it right now. With a spork or something. Bloodily.

"Shinigami. You bastard."

"_I'm _the bastard? I really don't think you should be here, marshmellow." Marshmellow? What kind of insult is that? You can do better, Hideo!

"I'd have a hell of a lot more choice words for you if we weren't being stared at by this whole freaking room. A dark alley would be nice, where I could beat the ever-living crap out of you." This guy is rough, no doubt. Although they could just be being boys, or young men or whatever.

"G-guys, cu-cut it out."

Kazuki edges out from next to me, and I faintly wonder how he got by the door. The winter light streams in from the still-open door, and his hair turns dark brown in the halo of light behind him.

He was so different, for a moment. With that light, and the silence, and his cute stutter, and his dark, dark hair and how he looked healthier than ever. Sometimes he and Hideo are like brothers, but today they were night and day. In retrospect, I guess they always were. Hideo was the fight and Kazuki was after the fight. The mediator. The aftermath.

My god, the aftermath could be gorgeous. Like right now.

While staring, I managed to ask, "Do you _know_ this freak?"

His soft green eyes looked into my purple ones, "Ye-yeah. K-kikyo, this is my brother Yukio…" My eyes widened and I looked back over to the newcomer who had violated my 'No Touchie' rule. As soon as I saw him, I knew…

I absolutely, positively, irrevocably… hated him.

That's right, I hate Kazuki's twin brother with a burning passion. On sight. No wonder Hideo wants to murder him. I do too.

By now, Anko had shoved everyone out of her way and made it to the front. She marched over to Yukio (ignoring Hideo), turned him around, and practically shoved him out the door, while a woman with long (LONG!) red hair slammed and locked the door afterwards.

"Whew!" the red-haired woman breathed out, "What a nasty child." She then looked up and saw me. "Hello, I don't think we've met. I'm Kushina Namikaze, and you must be Kikyo?" Her eyes were large and green like Sakura's. She extended her hand.

"Uh, yeah. That's me." I shook her hand and discovered that even though she looked delicate, her grip was like iron. When she walked away I turned to Kazuki and winced in an outrageously exaggerated fashion.

He laughed, and the blush had returned to his cheeks. It looked very out of place when he was wearing a suit.

"What's up with your brother? He's an ass."

Kazuki looked up at me through his spiked bangs, bending over to grab his notebook which he had put on the ground. Unlike his usual cute look, I was fixed with a very un-Kazuki-like stare.

"Yukio terrifies me." He said simply and then looked embarrassed and seemed to evaporate through the crowd.

Took me a while to get it through my brain that there might be a part of Kazuki I didn't know at all. Did I even know him at all?

No. I didn't.

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

It's amazing that I'm not dead.

Either getting killed by someone else or pulling the trigger on myself, it doesn't matter. But alive or not, getting missions still sucks. Especially when they don't involve something interesting. Like this.

I'm put on guard duty. Secretly. You see, in short, Tsunade has become increasingly paranoid and has assigned me to be Sakura's bodyguard. Except Sakura doesn't know that. Tsunade figures that if anyone was going after her, they'd try and get Sakura first because she's close to Tsunade and vulnerable. I tried to tell the old hag that maybe she should just TRAIN Sakura and all problems would be solved, but _no._ Hideo's advice is useless once again.

We picked up Ino on our way to Tsunade's place. She looked okay.

I knew better.

Dragga has been bothering me all the time recently about it. He says she's been in a questionable employment. I can't get anything else out of him. It's especially annoying because of a few key facts:

Dragga is, like, in love with her. So why hasn't he done anything?

Ino's like a sister to me. We GREW UP together. And now I can't help her because I don't know what's wrong because Dragga insists on being a douche.

He texts me. And I _still _don't know what moronic arsehole thought it would be funny to give him my number.

So, I'm in a crap mood. Sucks to be me. And near me. Ino had been silent the whole car ride. She's in a black turtleneck dress that goes to her knees. Everyone in the car besides her seemed to realize that it wasn't flattering. At all.

(I think she knows.)

When we had arrived, she accidentally slammed the door and my head jerked up. I hit my forehead on the window. I didn't feel anything. Nothing seems to hurt me anymore.

It's frankly quite creepy. I hate it.

Right now I'm waiting with Kazuki in the living room. I had tried to slip into the kitchen but Asuma had chased me out with a frying pan. It was worth it, though, because someone had forced him to wear a frilly yellow apron. He hates yellow more that he hates pink. It makes me want to come to school in a neon yellow shirt just to tick him off.

"Hey, loser."

I know that voice. I _know _that voice. Crap. Slowly turning to face her, I glared and exchanged an equally insulting greeting to my temporary partner, Karin. She was in an obnoxiously neon green dress and fishnets. _Fishnets_.

She put her hand on her forehead, "I know what you're thinking. You," she paused, "are thinking that fishnets are indecent. You're such a old fart, Spike."

Darn it, she got me. "I hate you." I let her know. Normally I would have been punched, but I guess the holiday spirit had infected us. I hate that virus. Worst kind.

She smiled {demonically} and twirled her hair. This was my other 'sister', Karin. She'd been orphaned for so long nobody even knew her surname.

Before you start, she's like sister. Really. Like Ino. And Hana. And Hinata. And Tenten. And almost every girl in the Camp. Kiba, Hana's brother, loves to point out that I was raised by women and call's me a sister's boy {then I point out that I know that he's madly in love with Hinata, and he shuts up}.

"SPIKE!" Speak of the devil. And Lucifer. And Beelzebub. And Beelzebub's twin sister.

Oh, yes, Kiba showed up. He threw a punch at my face, but I ducked and Karin punched him in the face instead.

"Yo, Fishlegs. What's shakin'?" He said, grinning at Karin's fishnets. She called him a dumbass and tried to sneak into the kitchen to steal some chocolate. Kiba kept grinning and it was starting to get unnerving. "You're creeping me out, freakazoid."

"_I'm_ the freakazoid, freakazoid?" He shot back {still grinning!}. I growled at him. "I hate you."

Before Kiba could reply with his customary 'Love you too,' I heard Kikyo yelling at someone at the door. When I heard the reply, red seeped into the corners of my vision.

That voice was Yukio's. Must. Kill. Now. RIGHT. NOW.

I slipped through the living room to the front door.

"You." I was going to start slinging profanity at Kazuki's twin, but then I remembered that the whole Camp was here. Including Saya.

Saya is an orphan whose parents died during a mission. She's only ten. And I'm sworn not to curse in front of her, ever. Can't say that much for Yukio, though.

"Shinigami. You bastard."

"_I'm _the bastard? I really don't think you should be here, marshmellow." I called him a marshmellow because I can't curse and… ugh, I really need to just cuss him out, don't I?

"I'd have a hell of a lot more choice words for you if we weren't being stared at by this whole freaking room. A dark alley would be nice, where I could beat the ever-living crap out of you." Ooh, Yukio thinks be can beat me. He doesn't know me at all. My line of vision starts to narrow, and my hearing gets sharper. I can practically hear the air swirling around me. Last time I'd confronted Yukio, he'd nailed me in the face because I was ordered not to fight back. Right now the only orders I had said nothing about holding back.

"G-guys, cu-cut it out."

Agh, Kazuki, way to mellow my harsh. Damn. But maybe it wasn't him at all.

Saya is right next to Sakura, and she knows that I was about to explode. Sakura doesn't, but the ten-year-old does. Maybe she's secretly older than that. I let out a sigh and rub my temples. Kazuki is talking to Kikyo. Yukio is being shoved out the door. Kushina slams the door.

My right eyes starts to itch, and I know that it's going to start hurting badly soon. I press my palm over it, wincing as a nerve twangs painfully. My sister motions me over, and I slip away from the living room to the upstairs bathroom.

Sis pulls my hair away from my face with her hair tie and starts running the water. Then I look up into the mirror.

I wish I hadn't.

I want to run.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

Holidays are too good to be true. The fog in my head has cleared so, so very much.

I flit around, helping cook and talking to Kurenai a lot.

I am very happy for her and Asuma. They got married recently.

We weren't able to come to their wedding because we got sent on a mission.

It made us sad. But Itachi and I came back later and we congratulated them anyway.

The only problem is that Kurenai is scared to have a child because their missions might take them away too often- or worse, permanently.

Itachi is surveying the room quietly.

I sneak up behind him and ask him how he's doing. He's annoyed that Otouto is going to be complaining all day.

'Tachi's so funny. His hair is even softer than mine.

Tsunade is yelling loudly in the kitchen, and Kurenai is bossing Asuma around when I get back. He grumbles about needing a smoke.

I tell him smoking is bad for you.

He chews on a toothpick.

Suddenly, there's Saya, pulling at my sleeve with her other tiny hand in a surprised-looking Sakura's.

Sakura's so pretty. She doesn't even know it.

But Saya pulls me into the living room, and Otouto is there. He is angry.

I tell Saya to hold on. I nod to Sakura. Standing where Otouto can see me [if he can still see clearly through his dislike for Yukio], I wait for him to calm down.

Kikyo is confused.

I think Kazuki's confused too.

Yukio is shoved out the door, and in the following chaos, Otouto turns very pale. I motion to him.

We go upstairs. He almost runs into a wall. I pull his hair back and run his eye under freezing cold water.

He yelps in surprise. I didn't have time to wait for the water to get warm.

The white porcelain sink turns red, and I know that his black hair was been getting stained with blood for at least two minutes. Maybe more.

His eye is dilated and I know that if the injection was dangerous he'd die.

Otouto.

Otouto!

Otouto?

He's crying.

Crying blood.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

Been a while, huh? Nothing really exciting has happened the past month and a half. My leg healed, and despite feeling a bit itchy and achy sometimes it's pretty good. Itachi says even that will go away in another month.

OUT64s heal fast. Very fast.

Anyway, this morning we had all piled into Shiro's silver station wagon and drove to Tsunade's house. On the way, we picked up a girl named Ino Yamanaka. She is very beautiful, but kind of thin. Thin like I was back when I'd skip breakfast and dinner. She's blond and has very long hair. I got the impression that she wanted to talk a lot but didn't.

Hideo was acting weird. He didn't talk to her. He barely even looked at her. When he got to the mansion, the only people talking were Itachi and Shiro. Maybe it's normal.

Once inside, Shiro ran off to the kitchen, Hideo evaporated somewhere, Ino went… somewhere, and Itachi sat down in the living room. I decided to go find Sakura, because we were early and Hideo was creeping me out.

I found her a few minutes later. She came dashing down the steps, and she was all excited. She looked just like her namesake, in a light green dress. Sakura was pretty.

[_

* * *

But Kikyo is prettier!_]

Ignoring the weird little voice in my head, I went over to Sakura and we talked and she made fun of me. I think she knows about me liking Kikyo. I hate how girls know stuff. It sucks. And when I say big, I mean it was around twenty, twenty-five people. Give or take a few.

I finally caught sight of Ino again. She ran up to this group of girls that just came in, and melted right into their group. She started to smile.

Sakura was watching all the people come in too. We were sitting on the steps. The carpet was nice.

Sakura got up. "I think I'm gonna run, K? Just see who's around."

I nodded. I didn't feel like moving yet. Sakura disappeared, too.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back. Hearing everything around me, I don't know how long I stayed like that. When I opened my eyes, I heard Kikyo. Yelling.

I leapt up a little too fast and slipped like oil to the door. She was there, yeah, and she was so gorgeous. Her hair was down for the first time since… since she was young.

But something made me choke. Yukio. Yukio was here, and she was yelling at him. My heart started to pound. What did he do? Why was he here? Was… was Father here?

I checked to see that Father wasn't here [he wasn't], and wedged myself between Kikyo and the door.

Hideo was arguing at Yukio already. They looked murderous, and I knew that if I tried to stop them they may get angry at _me_ instead, but I called out anyway. The door was still open and the cold air was blowing my hair around. It was slightly annoying.

"G-guys, cu-cut it out." Agh, I was stuttering again.

Kikyo whirls on me, and I almost jump away. Almost. "Do you _know_ this freak?" she asks incredulously.

"Ye-yeah. K-kikyo, this is my brother Yukio…"

I could tell. She hates him. A lot. Anko had plowed through everyone and throws Yukio out. I think she's still angry that he called her a biach in the middle of Science the first day of school.

Kikyo looks at me quizzically, "What's up with your brother? He's an ass."

I bent over to pick you up, Nameless, and I looked up at her.

"Yukio terrifies me."

I've never spoken truer words since, unless I summon up the courage to tell Kikyo I love her.

… which I never will.

* * *

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

When I woke up this morning, I was so happy I could burst. I dashed around, helping Auntie clean and cook while getting dressed.

I chose something that I swore never to wear again. But it was something I had to do. It was a sea green dress that was German. Mother and Dad had sent it to me a year ago.

On the card, it'd said 'from Mom and Dad', but I knew that Dad had picked it out for me. Dad always knew what I wanted, how I thought.

Now, I knew what he would have wanted. Dad would have wanted me to wear this dress and be happy. But not forget. Never forget them.

When I heard people downstairs, I had just put on my jade earrings. Actually, I was still putting one in as I thudded down the stairs.

Kazuki, Shiro, Itachi, and Hideo had arrived. And this girl. I saw her go into the reading room. She was blonde- very pretty. Classically blonde and blue-eyed. But she wore this really ugly sweater dress. I wondered why. Someone like that didn't _not_ have fashion sense. Did they?

I was still pondering this when Kazuki came up. He looked so cute in a suit. Kikyo would be all blushy and stuff. I'd laugh at them later, though.

"Hey! What's up?"

"Nothing, really. You?"

I waved my hand comically, "What do _you _think? Nothing at all! Except I'm excited! Are you? Come on, you gotta be!"

He just suppressed a laugh at my hysterics. That boy… silly boy, thinking you can outwit the great, the illustrious Sakura.

"Well, I bet you're a lot more nervous than you let on."

He blinked.

"KIKYO'S COMING! SHE'S GOING TO WEAR A DRESS!"

He blushed madly. Silly, silly boy. "Where's Hideo?" I blurted, accidentally ruining my triumph. Now _I'm _the one who sounds lovesick.

ARGH! I'm not! Ugh…

Kazuki just shrugs. "I'm not sure where he is. The question is, are you sure you _want_ to find him?" Kazuki pulled at the collar unconsciously. "Bad mood?" I asked, and Kazuki nodded again. He was done writing. I think he didn't record our conversation. That's okay, though, because it wasn't that important anyway.

Eventually, I got up to go see who'd arrived so far. Kazuki stayed on the steps. Silly little emo boy.

All of the guests arrived at the same time, and there were a lot of them. It was like watching a giant family, too, everybody seemed to know each other. Kikyo hadn't arrived yet, though, and I couldn't wait to see what she was wearing. I was sure she'd choose something great. Something Kazuki'd blush over. Wait… never mind. He blushed every time she even glanced at him.

Weaving through the crowd, I noticed a little girl. She could only be about ten or even nine, and she was looking around like she was trying to find someone. Wondering if she needed help, I walked over and smiled brightly, stooping down to her height.

"Hey, are you looking for someone?"

She turned to me. She had bright green eyes and light brown hair; she smiled and said, "Yeah! Have you seen my Aniki?" I blinked. Her older brother? Hmm… I didn't know who she was…

She went on, seeing my confusion, "He's tall and has black hair and," Okay, so that's narrowed down a tiny bit, "And usually looks annoyed."

…

……

………

………… I can only think of one person that description applies to.

"Uh… Hideo?" I asked dumbly. I was flustered when she nodded.

"Yeah! Is he here?" She exclaimed hopefully. Her dress was cute.

… I didn't know Hideo had a little sister. Maybe she just called him that. Can't imagine how a little kid got so close to him, though, because he doesn't like little kids. At all.

I stood up. Okay, find Hideo… It shouldn't be that hard.

She pulls on my dress, and I look down at her face. "Let's look!"

"Mmhm! Okay, um, I'm Sakura, what's your name?" I took her hand. She pulled me through the room.

"I'm Saya! Nice to meet you!" Then she suddenly stopped. A crowd was forming at the front door. "What's going on? It's probably Kikyo being weird…" I grumbled and started towards it.

Saya, however, had other plans. She dragged me to the kitchen and looked at Shiro. Shiro looked surprised, especially when she was pulled up to the door. I didn't say anything.

The scene at the door didn't alarm me at all. It was Kikyo, who was seething, some guy who looked annoying, and Hideo arguing with him.

Zoning out, I ended up staring at Hideo. It was like he wasn't seeing anything at all. Single-minded. Angry.

I wondered what he would look like completely relaxed. Would he look younger? Maybe her would. Maybe we all would. Saya held my hand. The white haired guy got kicked out, apparently he was Kazuki's brother.

I kept my eyes on Hideo.

I even saw him stagger up the stairs with Shiro.

I even cleaned the blood trail off the floor.

I even felt like screaming.

I even… I even felt like running away.

Just like him.

* * *

Somewhere over the Atlantic, a plane hummed across the blue ocean.

Hun, please pass me my laptop.

He does.

Hun, please don't waste time. Work on your presentation!

He does.

Hun, what's wrong? Are you alright? Your data's wrong…

He turns to her.

Do you recall a girl named Sakura? He asks his wife.

Hun, Sakura's our daughter. Are you sure you're okay?

How long?

How long what, Seiji?

Since we saw that girl?

Um… three months? She's fine, Seiji, she's introverted like you. Remember; we made her take the test a few years ago?

Amaya?

What is it? She sighs. She's exasperated. He's keeping her from her work.

If you were going to die, what would you say?

She looks at him critically. Her lips move.

I would say that I was wrong.

I was wrong.


	12. Satan's Tears and the Windblown Street

I'm back, readers. If there are any.

* * *

-Chapter 12-

_What if everything you thought you knew was wrong?_

_That you're not who you thought you were?_

_Your best friend is your worst enemy?_

_Tears were fire?_

_The candle has been out?_

_Well._

_{WELL?}_

_She's going to know._

_Their past isn't one with memories._

_No love._

_No regrets._

_No ties._

_No morals._

_He stops running. Reality's pillars crash down behind him- it's on his heels._

_{MOVE!}_

_He doesn't, and all that's left is a shadowy corner filled with strange machinery and bloodstained tables.

* * *

_

-=([{ Sakura }])=-

Saya. Hey, Saya, help me out will you? Upstairs your Aniki is bleeding. Why? Why is that happening? Why isn't anybody worried except me?

That's what I want to say. I know that she knows. Why else would she go and get Shiro like that? Running my fingertips along the wall, I go upstairs. The bathroom door is open, but I don't care anymore.

I just can't care. I can feel Shiro's eyes glued to my back, heck, I can practically hear her surprise. But in walking past, I still have no interest. Hideo's bleeding? Fine. Sakura is left in the dark? Fine.

Fine.

The door slams loudly behind me, shaking the pretty wood frame. Some of the ceiling crumbles down from the slam. The fire is spreading through my veins… coursing… but it feels good. My fists itch.

My body starts to tremble with anger. I was so mad, I didn't even register that I was screaming. Inhuman sound ripped from my lungs and shook the room. Folding into a ball, I tried to contain it, but it didn't work. When I removed my hands from clutching my arms, my fingernails were bloody. I couldn't feel the pain where they had dug into my shoulders.

Was I going insane? What was wrong with me? This shouldn't make me so mad. I was furious, at myself, at the world, at everything. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to stop screaming and instead the sound is reduced to a terrible groaning from my throat. Then the bed moves.

I look at it. Hot tears seem to be trailing down my face. The bed is vibrating. Then, as if in some kind of grotesque orchestra, my chest of drawers start doing it too. Soon, the whole room is shaking. Quietly and deliberately, I lift myself off my knees and stand. The furniture starts to move across the floor towards me. A yelp escapes my throat, which is raw and throbbing. I'm not angry. I'm not angry. Please, I'm not angry. Stop.

A breath I was trying to let out gets caught in my throat when the closet door throws itself at me. Ripping out of its sliding track, it launches across the room and stops above me.

We stay there for a minute. Everything is quiet. You could hear a pin drop.

"Th-this isn't funny. Stop it… Stop it!"

The door falls.

I don't feel it hit. I can see it's shadow on the ground as I focus on my feet, but no door comes down on my head.

"Sakura?"

…Shiro?

"Sakura? Are you alright?"

The door clatters to the floor. I sink down to my knees.

"Sakura!"

It's Shiro. I stare at my lap.

"SAKURA HARUNO." In my ear. Masculine. His breath is on the side of my head, panting and making it hard to think straight.

My hand swings around to slap him, but stops when I see his face. Hideo's right eye is dripping dark blood, and the skin around it is grayish and peeling. He's sweating.

I've never seen the right side of his face before. It's always covered by his hair. For a moment, I'm speechless. My brain can't process the transformation in front of me.

"Th… that's…" My voice trails off into a cough, but I have regained myself. Maybe I did when I saw his face. "That's hideous."

He snorts, and starts to grin until he winces. His face must hurt badly. "Thanks."

"No… problem." I heft him up with me. Shiro is moving my furniture around calmly. "Your furniture either has developed a malevolent grudge against you and got possessed, or this is something else entirely." Hideo pants, surveying the room.

I look at my palms, and then at Shiro's back, and then at Hideo's face. Standing to his right, all I can see is the eye. "What is it?"

His eyes bore into me, flicking around my face. "How the hell should I know? You're the one who should know more than anyone else."

I look at my feet. I can't take his stare, or his answer. I don't know anything, and that's why I was so angry in the first place. Noticing that Shiro had moved my bed to under the window, I opened my mouth to tell her that it was in the corner but she put long, delicate finger to her lips.

"I know."

I think I should just leave it there, just because she seems to think it should be there. The crisp winter air filters through the window, which had somehow opened itself during the confusion. I become aware that Shiro and Hideo are talking.

"…well, this happened because of it. No, I don't think that you should tell _her_ first. She'll freak and have a bitch fit and kill us all. And the neighbors. And the police."

"So it's Tsunade second? And Itachi first?"

Hideo exhales, aggravated. "Yeah. It sucks that it's such an inconvenient place."

What the hell are they debating about? Still in a daze, I barely register that I'm being taken by the hand and led downstairs by Shiro. I twist around nervously to see Hideo retreating back into the bathroom. I start to pull back, to go help him, but Shiro is shockingly strong and lugs me down the stairs. Itachi appears, and they talk about something like, 'three eyes' and 'injections'.

It's freaking me out. But I can't afford to be angry again, there are many people here. What if I started hurling around furniture again? And hurt someone? I wanted to talk to Hideo about it.

Then there's that secret part of me, whispering, wondering why I wanted to go back to him like a magnet. Why do you want to follow him? All the time? You're always behind him. Do you want to walk next to him?

Did I want to walk next to Hideo?

But, I couldn't. I told myself that I'd never get close to boys again, ever. Not even friends. Kazuki, he was safe. Because his friendship would never turn into anything else. But Hideo? He was a different kind.

A different species. A different life.

"Sakura?" Shiro asks, feeling my forehead. Her cool hand is still in my sweaty one, like I'm a child on the first day of school with my mother with me. Itachi looks on, concerned. He looks like he did that day, that day when I learned everything was wrong.

The day Sasuke betrayed me, and then left me for dead. Spat in my face and ripped up my feelings like a savage beast.

Tears start to fall on the carpet. Shiro gracefully moves her body in front on me, shielding me from any curious eyes. She lifts my face. "It's safe," her cold arms wrap around me, "It's safe now."

She's freezing but it's still comforting and she smells like a whole field of wildflowers. "What… what am I, Shiro? Why?" I bury my face into her middle pretending, hoping that this was what a mother's embrace felt like. A burningly warm hand rests on my shoulder, and I don't have to look to know that it's Itachi.

Is this what a family feels like? I cry because I'll never know.

Not unless I can speak the truth, like Kazuki does.

Not unless I can survive like Kikyo has.

Not unless… I can run like Hideo can.

I wiggle, and Shiro releases me. She knows, she's always known, and I know that she can see through all of my faults and scars and talents to the real, newborn me inside the onion layers.

I run back, look back, remember, and crash into him.

Words drip off my tongue that aren't even said.

Help me.

{save me}

Then everything goes black, but I feel ice- cold arms around me.

I don't think they're Shiro's.

* * *

…_-=[( Itachi )]=-_...

I know what he wants. Unfortunately, he'll never get it.

I'll never give Sakura to him. She's too important, too vulnerable, too vital. Vital to the camp, vital to Tsunade, even vital to myself.

She's our heart, which beats in turn for all of us whether we know it or not. And I know someone who would go the extra distance for her. Funny, I didn't think I'd ever be able to see like Shiro does but here I am, looking into someone else's soul. Searching, searching for the glimmer of whatever inside his heart.

Hideo Shinigami, why does he run from himself… and consequentially Sakura.

He's always been a daredevil, ever since he figured out that jumping off buildings and landing on slim surfaces worried his elders. Recently he's been risking a lot more than a concussion or a broken limb.

Rayn has found something monumental. Something that could turn the tides of this war within the unlawful rebels. Yes, the rebels were at war right beneath the government's nose. There was us at the Camp, Tsunade's group. Then, there was Orochimaru's cronies. The side that my brother has fled to.

Orochimaru is a scientist, or so he claims. From what our spy has told us, it is more like forced biological engineering. What Rayn has found could very well be just as damaging.

Hideo and Shiro both decided to take the injection.

Shiro took it very well. Apparently, her genetics were perfect for the formula, and she gained almost supernaturally powerful abilities, adding on to her ability to see the dead and visions.

Hideo? Not so much. Instead, his body began to undergo strange and random fits of biological changes. Shiro says that the spirit disagrees with him. Rayn is frantically trying to find a solution to his mistake. Despite this, Hideo went on normally. The foolish boy has more fortitude than any adult I know, including myself, Shiro, Anko, Tsunade, and even Kakashi.

Rayn isn't here at Tsunade's mansion today. He's back at Camp, in his lab. Still working. He hasn't stopped since Riyu's death. I don't think he ever will.

For Hideo's sake, I hope he finds something miraculous.

{Little did I know I was going to find the answer in a few minutes.}

Shiro comes down the stairs, pulling poor Sakura behind her. The girl looks miserable, with tear tracks down her face and eyes still watering. Shiro is before me. "Something has happened. The Third Eye- she has it. She doesn't even need an injection!"

I held up a hand, keeping an eye on the dazed Sakura. "… I think Tsunade has a hand in this. It isn't natural." Shiro's eyebrows knitted together.

"But she… Itachi, she's special. Maybe if Rayn could see her… he might be able to…"

Rayn could… heal Hideo. I silently finished her sentence. The rosette blinks, making tears trickle like rivers down her cheeks. Shiro goes over and puts a hand on her forehead, covering a strange mark that is like a circle with four lines around it, like a star in a child's drawing.

Shiro takes the girl into her arms, and I realize that Sakura is still a child. A child that needs a family, just like Kazuki and Kikyo. I walk over and put my hand on the child's shoulder, which shakes with soft sobs.

Even when she pulls away, she is smaller, her hair more pale, and her eyes wider. She is a child, yes.

But she's seen too much, too fast. Something I can relate to.

* * *

-~+{[( Kikyo )]}+~-

I still don't know if I should follow Kazuki or not. With what he said to me, I have nothing. It's something about him, something important that I have to know, but I know that it will be harder than that. And then…

Kazuki. He knows something. It's been bothering me ever since we had that conversation by the window at Shiro and Hideo's house. It rolls around in my head, tormenting me with the knowledge that he knows something about Kazu. And I must know. I don't even know how I know he knows… And I'm so confused my brain feels as cluttered as the floor of my small room.

This whole town, with its grey walls and colorless sky. Full of mysteries, each filled by the picture of one person.

First, Shiro. How could she look at you and you felt like she was laying you bare? Her eyes so eerily full of sadness and concern. But never pity.

Then there was Itachi. He was so silent, I just knew he was hiding something. And he said the oddest things when he was bored.

Anko spoke for herself. I liked being around her, but she still made me spin around when she appears behind me. Her loudness seems to be like a mask recently…

Even Sakura had her moments of strange silence. But, I think, worst of all, was Hideo. If Kazuki was an airtight box, then Hideo was the interior of a titanium space shuttle. Impenetrable. Unbreakable.

But didn't it hurt, to lock away everything from everyone? Or was it just us? Or maybe even just me? No, I thought, it can't be that Sakura knows anything more about him than I do. Because she feels the pain of not being trusted just like me. I can see it in her eyes as she watches him.

Honestly, I think she has been lying to herself. We've only known the boys for about half a school year; but she… I don't know. How could I know? I've never even liked a guy. I don't know anything. Not anymore.

But I want to know _something_, more than anything. Maybe even more than I want to talk to Kazuki. Quiet, kind Kazuki. I was scared to see any other side to him, because he was the constant. The only one you could really depend on to always be there beside you, no matter where you were.

So, I flew after him. I've never moved so fast. I'd kicked my shoes off a while ago, and I slipped without a sound through the crowded living room. I think I called his name a few times, but I can never be sure with all the ruckus in my head. A thousand thoughts rushed through my poor, overworked brain, and as much as I tried to shut it down, a small voice told me things I never wanted to hear.

_You like him._

Ugh, shut up. I just want to know what he knows about Kazu! That's all!

_No you don't. You're hoping he isn't Kazu, doesn't know Kazu, so that you can be normal with him. You like him._

Stupid, stupid. That's ridiculous. I don't like him. Not that way.

_That's right. You don't like him. You _love _him._

I DON'T LOVE HIM, DUMBA-

Clapping a hand over my mouth, my eyes widen idiotically when I realize I had said that aloud. A blonde girl with sky blue eyes and a really ugly sweater dress regards me from nearby. With what, I don't even know.

Managing to give her a fake smile, I continue on my journey to find Kazuki. I don't even know where he went, I just am following him. Frantically.

Finally, my feet delivered me into a huge room that I recognized as the library. Sakura and I had hung out in here on really cold days, laughing about nothing and learning more about each other. But that wasn't why I was here, now, and there he was. At the window, looking out at the dismal town and grey sky.

If I tried really hard, I could envision the houses painted bright, garish colors and an impossibly blue sky. But then _he _wouldn't belong, and even if I got the chance to make the world bright I probably wouldn't, as to not displace him from his place near that window.

The silence was so thick, it was like wading through a bog to get to the desk behind him. But even when I did, I couldn't shatter the silence. It was like sacrilege to even try to break it, and every time I started to speak no sound came out of my dry throat. My hand was lifted through the air, and I grimaced at how I almost expected the air around my limb to screech and groan at being moved aside. But it didn't, and I put my hand on his shoulder. Surprised, his head jerked up and he turned suddenly towards me. I felt a few of my precious brain cells die as we knocked heads, hard. His sparkling eyes grew wide at the sight of me, and for the first time I absently noticed how his eyes were surrounded by sooty long eyelashes, almost like a girl. Or like a girl's wish.

We stayed like that for a while (A minute? Forty minutes?), and just were silent, face to face. Almost like we were considering each other. What are you here for? What do you want from me? I don't know.

At the end, I turned my face away and twisted around to find a pen on the desk. Picking it up, I tried to write on a scrap of paper, but the pen was dry. I threw it over my shoulder and grabbed another, which worked. I scrawled furiously on my hand.

'_Do you know'…_ I scratched it out. That wasn't right. I gnawed on my lip, feeling his eyes on me, just like being drenched in water. But it was warm water, don't worry.

Then my hand moved to write and my mind lagged so far behind it I didn't even register that I held my palm up for him to see.

'Are you Kazu?'

There it was. The question. Kazuki looked at it as if it was the most difficult text he'd ever read. Maybe it was, if my nagging feeling was right.

_Please,_ said the voice in my head,_ don't say it's you. So I can forget about this. Forever._

He didn't. Instead, he grabbed my wrist and ran out of the room. We were standing at the back door when he turned to look at me. He seemed to realize something and looked frustrated.

Then it hit me. We were going to go somewhere, and we were both in formal clothing. I held up a finger and dashed up to Sakura's room. I think someone was in the bathroom, because there was a light on, but I didn't care much. Throwing on some of my clothes I'd conveniently forgotten at her house, I practically flew back to the door, almost getting lost once in the maze of halls. There he was, waiting for me. He had taken off his jacket and shoes, leaving him barefoot and probably cold. I opened my mouth to say something, but he already had my wrist again and all I could do was follow.

We ran through the forest, leaping over logs and dodging tree branches. The foliage was all dead and brown. The trees looked like blurs, even though I knew that _I_ was the blur, not them.

And now, everything else came back to me like a flood. That morning, when I had been young and naive and so blindingly _stupid_, I had gone this way to the cliffs, to find my friend. My best friend. Kazu.

He'd been there, blending in with one of the grayish trees when I had arrived. But when I came, that day went horribly wrong…

Tears stung my eyes as we pressed on through the woods. All I could think of was that day and if his feet hurt as much as mine did. Then Kazuki looked back at me, and the water in my eyes made everything swim except for the color of his eyes.

That day so long ago… a man had come shouting after Kazu, who had tried to warn me to leave. We hid for so long, my childish legs felt like they were going to burst with nervous energy. Every time I tried to talk to Kazu, he'd put a shaking hand over my mouth. So I had just sat and watched his chest rise up and down. Up and down.

We waited there so long that the man gave up calling out rude names and all the sound he made was frustrated, inhuman growls. Then, I heard the voices of my parents, coming to find me after so long.

They came too soon. The man was still there, and he killed them before the police who had also been searching for me with them arrived.

They'd tried to catch the man, but he escaped. Then, I went out to them and they took me away, leaving Kazu behind in the hollow tree. The government had shipped me away, to an orphanage, and eventually let me live in small apartments by myself when I turned thirteen. Since then, I'd always moved around every year or so. Then, one day, the social worker told me that I was to return to my hometown for the time being. I hadn't wanted to go. I didn't want to remember everything, which I had conveniently locked away in the deep recesses of my mind.

And now, I had. And I knew why every time I looked at Kazuki's face I saw Kazu.

My hand twisted and took hold of his. And we ran.

Then, he stopped so suddenly I bumped into him. Here we were, at the sea cliffs, looking out over a rocky expanse of grey water.

But I could see, if I tilted my head, that the sea was green. The sky was light violet.

I turned to him, and studied his profile. His green eyes were misted over, looking out to sea. I started wondering. It was wrong, but I wondered what he would do if I just… just…

What if I just decided to kiss him, right now? What would he do? Probably push me away. Was it weird for me to think about it? Why was I thinking about it, anyway? Maybe I should stop looking at his face. I'll… just look at the ocean.

It was grayish green with a tiny amount of blue. My clammy hand was still in his. We were both sweating from running for so long, and I was so nervous and embarrassed to be thinking about kissing him I started sweating again. Oh, god damn my eyes! They kept flicking over to him. When was the last time we'd been here? Years…

"7 years."

My whole head turned now, only to stare him in the face. I took to chance to memorize his face again, and saw that everything had changed. The baby-faced Kazu was gone, replaced with this… beautiful boy with a long, bashful face and sooty lashes.

I didn't know what to do, or say, or anything, so I just stood there gaping like a fish. I think the gods, or god, gave pity on me and he seemed to know that the best thing to do is just wrap his arms around me. He was warm, and still sweaty from running.

Finally, it came to me. I put my arms around him and even when he began to shake with tears, we stayed there. Maybe a few minutes passed, maybe hours.

But eventually, it was just me and Kazuki, standing there so close, sobbing.

* * *

_-{[( Hideo )]}-_

My eye was bleeding. My blood was dark, and dripped down my cheek, cold and slimy. I almost- almost- screamed. I haven't screamed since… I don't even remember. Do I remember anything at all?

This is it, I thought. You have used up all of your time. You are going to die. This is proof that you're going to die. Here it is. It's literally written on your face. Feel that pain running through you, Hideo? That's your death. It's in your veins, it's going to shut you down, just like the other human beings you've been forced to snuff out for the greater good.

I started to shake.

At that moment, I was so afraid. I didn't want to die. Not now. I wasn't ready! Is that what old men think, when they're dying? I'm not ready?

It was so absurd I started laughing. Sis was horrified, so was I, and I was laughing. That's it, she was thinking, he's cracked finally and now he's bona fide insane. Soon he'll be biting people and will become a mindless psychopath who kills everything in sight.

Maybe I already am a psychopath; I wouldn't be surprised. But I didn't used to be mindless. Was I now?

Everything started to fuzz around the edges, and the world lost color until the screams knocked my brain back into the right skull. Screaming came from across and down the hall. It wasn't scared screaming, but long, rough and agonized. Then, I remembered the last time I'd screamed like that.

It was when the injection had taken hold of me. It had run through my body, making me see red and destroy an entire room before I could be restrained. Even when they had restrained me, I couldn't be stopped, Sis told me, and ripped through several iron chains.

Pulling away from Sis, I slipped through the hallway and into the screaming room, which had gone quiet except for the odd noise of moving furniture.

I crashed into the door frame on my way in, still groggy and disoriented. Sis came behind me like a really white shadow.

When I stepped in the room, there was Sakura, and a door. Floating menacingly above her head. Move, I thought as though she could hear me, move. It's not moving. But it may fall and give you a concussion.

The door wobbled.

I grabbed it.

It rested on my shoulders while I crouched behind Sakura. Putting the door to the side, I looked down at the back of Sakura's head. Sis called her name, but she wouldn't respond. It really didn't help that at that moment I decided to notice that her dress had an open back. I could see her shoulder blades.

I focused very, very hard on the back of her head.

Finally, Sis's attempts to rouse her failed so I growled out, 'SAKURA HARUNO'. My strained breath made her hair move away from behind her ear. She swung around to hit me for violating her special space bubble, hand raised, but stopped.

Oh, shit. My face. Her eyes go wide, wider than they naturally are, and I can see tear tracks on her face.

"Th… that's," she trails off, and then her eyes blink, I noticed that she's wearing mascara, "That's hideous."

"Thanks." I reply sarcastically. Her bad timing made me grin, but my face burned and I give up trying to move it. I feel a lot less sick, even though I am sure that hefting doors on your back is not the best cure for illness. Well, not always. She stands up.

{By the way, I looked at the remaining door while she did this. I'm a fifteen year old boy, and her dress isn't the longest thing I've ever seen.}

I start to rise, but can't because of this really intense cramp in my chest. Sakura pulls me up.

"No… problem." She says, grunting with my weight. The whole time {while I wasn't focusing on looking specifically AWAY from her skirt} I wracked my brain, trying to find an explanation for the furniture, which appeared to have moved towards her.

"Your furniture either has developed a malevolent grudge against you and got possessed, or this is something else entirely." She looked at me as I said this, but I kept my face turned away. My face hurts so bad, it's like it's on fire. Hot coals were being pressed against the whole right side of my face.

Sakura's lips move, "What is it?"

"How the hell should I know? You're the one who should know more than anyone else." Her forehead… that mark… it's…

She blinks. Then, she sees Sis moving her bed near the window. I'm not really sure what happened next, but Sis shushed Sakura, who maybe was going to tell her that the bed went elsewhere. But I knew that look Sis had on, it was the 'I know something you don't' look. Best not to dispute that one.

Sakura gazes out the window. I tear my eyes from her back, and ask Sis, "What should we do?"

"We should notify someone immediately." Oh, crap, she has adopted Itachi's stuck-up way of talking with way too many big words.

"But… to move stuff without strings… it's like she got the injection like us." Sis flinched a bit and glanced at Sakura to make sure she wasn't listening. I continued, "I mean, it's gotta be. You know as well as I do nobody in the history of the world except maybe Chuck Norris has ever been _born_ with that kind of power."

Sis nodded, and suggested we tell Tsunade.

"She must have something to do with it, so, well, this happened because of it. No, I don't think that you should tell _her_ first. She'll freak and have a bitch fit and kill us all. And the neighbors. And the police." My logic told me that the blonde woman would feel guilty about giving Sakura such powers without her consent. Sis looked at me with a determined look on her face. "So it's Tsunade second? And Itachi first?"

Who said anything about him? I looked at Sakura, who had turned our way and was trying to regain her senses. A fading mark, like a simple child's drawing of the sun, glowed faintly on her forehead. It was definitely the mark of an injected individual. Sis got her mark in between her shoulder blades, and me…

The center of my chest. But it only glowed when we used, or tried to use, the injection's power. Sakura seemed fine, and without the pain I had felt the first time the injection had started doing funny things, like setting fire to paper and making the wind blow a lot.

Sis's voice once again snaps me back to reality, "So it's Tsunade second? And Itachi first?"

She doesn't notice my staring at her, so I continue to watch the mark fade on Sakura's forehead. "Yeah. It sucks that it's such an inconvenient place."

Sis knows what I mean. The mark.

So she takes Sakura down to Itachi, and I, suddenly feeling the weight of actually moving on my limbs, slink back to the bathroom in defeat. Once inside, my legs buckle and I languish in my bathroom cell with Agony and Tired As Hell as my only companions. My head bumps up against the sink, and makes me wince. My shoes touch the opposite wall when I stretch my legs out. It sucks. I hope as soon as Sis deals with Sakura, she remembers to get Rayn to help me. I half groan, half- laugh at my idiocy. Of course she'll remember. She's my sis.

The pain comes in spasms, in my head, then in my legs, then in my chest, then in my back, then everywhere else it missed. But I don't allow sound to escape my mouth again. I can't show weakness. Moaning in pain is weakness.

Then, I hear footfalls in the hall. I heft my leaden body up and open the door, only to be crashed into by Sakura.

I was vaguely reminded of the day she told me her parents had died, because before she ran into me I didn't have time to react.

A wheezed phrase blew out of her lungs as she started to faint, and I heard it as I caught her before she hit the ground.

"Help me."

Help me.

She slumped over in my arms. I chuckled lowly.

Help me.

I knelt down, bringing her gently onto the tile.

Help me?

I bent down and whispered in her ear.

"I can't afford to help you. But I will anyway, Sakura…"

A drop of dark, dark blood fell on her face.

Look, I'm crying for the first time in years.

And I all I could think before I blacked out was, bullshit.

This doesn't count.

* * *

-{=( Shiro )=}-

My blood ran cold, colder than it already was, and I felt the breath being wrestled away from my poor lungs. This- this was what happened- and Rayn didn't tell me. Neither did Otouto. Was he under orders? Were they both under orders?

My brain can't take it. I think back

To when I never could think straight

Can I go back… no.

No, I won't. I will never go back to that dreamland. This is my new life.

I will face it.

I _must_ face it, full on its ugly, malformed front and epicenter.

Otouto… he was shivering with the effort of not writhing in pain. Then he laughed, harshly. It scared me. That was the laugh that Mother had uttered all those years ago when Madara Uchiha had told her he no longer had any use for her.

Here it was, again, but on my dear brother's lips. I forced the thoughts away.

Then the screams started. The horrible sound was almost as startling as Otouto's maniacal laughing, but with this he seemed to regain his senses. He swept down the hall, footsteps silent, and I followed behind him, suddenly curious as to what he would do.

It was Sakura, poor Sakura, with the glowing mark right on her forehead. The furniture in the room had reacted to her power and was moving towards her small form. She did not know it was her own doing, and begged an invisible poltergeist to stop. I could hear the tears weighing on her voice, making it crack and wobble.

The heavy closet door was hovering above her, and I worried that she was hurt because she did not move.

The door dropped, and I tensed, watching it fall and the Otouto catch it. I called out to Sakura, hoping to get a response, anything, from her, but she did not utter a word until he sternly barked out her name.

I blocked out the words they used and watched them as I absently moved furniture around. The colors of the room started to bleed out, and then everything was white.

I turned to the window. Narrowing my eyes from the glare of snowy light all around me, I saw the first vision I had seen since the girl and the beast and the plane.

It was Sakura, sitting on her bed, the morning light shining on her upturned face. Then, suddenly, a bullet shattered the window, scaring her while whizzing past her face.

The bullet hole was where her bed had been before her power had moved it towards the center of the room. She would have been killed if her bed was still there…

The white light faded, and I became aware of their bickering again. I moved the bed underneath the window.

Sakura saw and tried to protest. I shushed her.

Then, Otouto and I decided that it would be best to tell Itachi-kun first and Tsunade-sama later. I used Itachi's manner of speaking to annoy Otouto. I was glad he seemed to be okay now.

I took Sakura by the hand and led her downstairs. I felt her pulse, and felt her turn to look back for Otouto. I smiled, but kept pulling her along.

Itachi is there at the bottom of the steps, as if her heard me and was summoned magically. I breathlessly tell him of her mark, and of her power.

Itachi then speaks a thought which had nagged me for so long now. It wasn't natural. Tsunade had a hand in this. But… since Sakura was successful… could Rayn help Otouto.

Otouto… Sakura. Both of them, so similar, so different.

Sakura begins to cry, and I do what I can do. I wrap her tight in my arms and tell her it'll be alright. You're safe, I tell her. You're safe now. It's okay.

She cries and cries, and Itachi even comes over to put a hand on her shoulder. I look up into his eyes and see how it hurts him that this girl was so pained over his brother.

But I know that Sakura needs someone else like her. Not us, who have made it to the distant shore of hope. When she pulls away, I let her go.

I see her small, pale feet run up the stairs.

I might even see her crash into Otouto.

But I'll never know.

Maybe.

* * *

~#((( Kazuki )))#~

Dear Nameless,

I can hardly write now, because my hand keeps shaking. It's dark outside. I remember how bright it was out before… before, when I was braver than I ever have been in my life. My short, pathetic life.

I'm not even self-pitying right now. I'm just telling the truth. Maybe I can change this life of mine, make it 'the life that started out badly but was awesome anyway'.

Kikyo, today, she was so so so so so so so so so so so so radiant. Wait- no. I can't even fit all the 'really's and 'so's on this page, or the next, or even this whole book, so why even bother? But I got to take her to the cliffs, and she remembered everything, and I won't have to hide anymore because she found me out and I'm so happy. I've never been so happy. Ever.

The whole time in the woods, running, in the library, and on the cliffs, I'd wanted to tell her everything. How I felt, what happened after she was taken away, everything. I wanted to be able to hold her and not feel the barrier of 'just friends'.

Hideo isn't here tonight, even though this is his house. Itachi and Shiro left earlier. I don't know where they went. The clock is ticking at me, reading with its angry red light 9:30. I should sleep.

Sorry for not writing earlier. I was too caught up in today. Everything was… perfect.

You know, if I didn't make it clear earlier, or if I die tonight, I just want whoever reads this journal that I love that girl.

I l o v e K i k y o O t s u k i. Yes I do.

* * *

_I never thought I'd be here, she thinks._

_A thin, gorgeous blonde thinks to herself in a small tank top and short skirt. She is standing on the windblown street corner, silent. Stationary.  
_

_Her fate wasn't meant to be this way. Sometimes she'd see Dragga, walking past with some girl._

_She always hid her face or ran away from the sight. She didn't want him to know she was here._

_But Ino had to pay the bills on her bereaved father's house._

_This was all she could do. Underage, poor, no proof of a high school education._

_It was all she could do._

_The day he found her out?_

_She cried. Only because it was Dragga, and not someone else.

* * *

_

**Before everyone is like, OMG prostitute, I know. Trust me, I wrote it in the story. I would know.**_  
_


End file.
